18367: Esser: Haiti faces bloodbath as rebels seize nine towns (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


Independent.co.uk
Haiti faces bloodbath as rebels seize nine towns

By David Usborne in New York

10 February 2004

Anti-government rebels were said to be in control of at least nine
towns in Haiti yesterday, including the ports of Gonaives and St
Marc, after several days of violence in the country which have
threatened the authority of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and left
more than 40 dead.

The crisis in Haiti, appeared to be deepening quickly. Himler Rebu,
an opposition figure and former army colonel, said: "We are in a
situation of armed popular insurrection."

Guy Delva, secretary general of the Association of Haitian
Journalists, said: "It's an open armed conflict now. It's not a joke."

Other towns and communities that are aligned with the government were
fortifying themselves in case of rebel attacks. Residents were
yesterday barricading the streets in the southern resort town of
Jacmel in an effort to keep out anti-government forces.

The unrest boiled over last Thursday when a gang once loyal to
President Aristide seized the northern port of Gonaives and released
about 100 prisoners. The gang, previously known as the Cannibals, has
renamed itself the Gonaives Resistance Front.

About 150 police officers were repelled when they attempted to retake
Gonaives on Saturday. About 14 police officers and several civilians
were killed in gun battles, some reports said. One police officer was
lynched. Gonaives, with a population of about 200,000, holds symbolic
historical importance as the city in which Haiti declared
independence in 1804 after slaves defeated Napoleon's army.

Rioting spread on Sunday to St Marc, another port city about 50 miles
north of Port-au-Prince, the capital. Protesters broke into ship
containers and stole television sets, mattresses and bags of flour.

They also blocked most of the roads in the city with felled trees and
burning cars. Two civilians were reported dead in the town from the
fighting. Sporadic gunfire was reported from St Marc again last night.

At least six other smaller towns close to Gonaives have also fallen
to the rebels, including Ennery, Gros Morne, L'Estere, Anse Rouge,
Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite and Trou du Nord, according to the
Haitian Press Network. Residents in these towns were mobilising to
support the rebels.

President Aristide, a former priest who was elected to power in 1991,
was ousted in a coup by the army and then reinstalled after American
intervention in 1994.

He is in effect ruling by decree after Haiti's parliament ceased to
function earlier this year. The rebels are demanding his removal from
office and they are accusing him of corruption and human rights
abuses. His term runs until 2006.

The troubles began after President Aristide's Lavalas Party swept the
board in legislative elections in 2000. International observers said
that the election was flawed. President Aristide agreed to new
elections last year, but opposition groups refused to participate,
triggering a crisis. Anti-government protests and general strikes
have been crippling the already impoverished country and 68 people
have died in clashes since September, when the mutilated body of the
former leader of the Cannibal gang was found next to a road.

The mainstream opposition parties appeared to be pulling back from
being associated with the violence. Leaders of the key parties, the
Group of 184 and Democratic Convergence, have condemned the Cannibals
as an Aristide creation, a link the government has denied.

© 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=489720