18358: (Chamberlain) Haiti police take back rebel-held town (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Marco Trujillo

     SAINT MARC, Haiti, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Haitian police took back a city
from armed gangs opposed to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Monday,
delivering the government its first victory in a 5-day-old armed revolt.
     Shortly after police secured control of the port city of Saint Marc,
north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, Prime Minister Yvon Neptune arrived
by helicopter to shouts of support for Aristide.
     He assured residents the government wanted to seek peace with its
opponents through dialogue, not force.
     A Reuters Television cameraman saw bullets on the ground and one dead
civilian.
     It was not immediately clear if there had been a heavy battle for the
city, 65 miles (105 km) north of Port-au-Prince and on the road to the
historic city of Gonaives, where the revolt began last week.
     There was no sign of the armed gangs who torched Saint Marc's police
station on Saturday after driving out police, and who then looted
containers in the port and blocked the streets with a maze of barricades.
     Haiti's army was disbanded when Aristide was restored to power in 1994
by a U.S.-led invasion after having been deposed in a coup soon after the
start of his first term. Police forces have been beaten back in some
rebel-controlled areas.
     Several policemen were killed between Thursday and Saturday after a
revolt in Gonaives, the city where Haiti declared its independence from
France in 1804 after former slaves defeated Napoleon's army.
     The rebels, who once belonged to a pro-Aristide band known as the
Cannibal Army, appeared to have remained in control of Gonaives on Monday.
     It was not clear how many people had died in the rebellion so far but
estimates range up to at least 23 killed in a crisis that erupted after
after months of political tension.
     Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest once hailed as a champion of
Haiti's fragile democracy, now faces accusations from opponents of
corruption and political thuggery. Dozens have died in recent months after
anti-government demonstrations were attacked by Aristide supporters.
     The government blames the opposition for the violence, and says it
represents a small mulatto elite opposed to rule by the black majority.
Aristide says he intends to serve out his second term to 2006.
     The United States, saying the violence "concerned us greatly," called
on all Haitians on Monday to respect the law. "The problems of Haiti will
not be solved by violence and retribution," State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher said.
     In pro-government enclaves in the dirt-poor provinces of the Caribbean
country of 8 million, some community leaders said they were "fortifying"
towns against expected attacks from insurgents and some opposition leaders
warned of anarchy.
     "It's an open armed conflict now. It's not a joke," Guy Delva,
secretary-general of the Association of Haitian Journalists, said.
     One opposition leader sounded a somber warning.
     "They (the opposition) all have one rallying cry. They're tired of
Aristide," Leslie Maximilien, president of the opposition National Forum
for the Salvation of Haiti, said.
     "But if they win the day, then they will probably break up into small
pieces again and we'll be even worse off than we are now," said Maximilien,
a critic of Aristide's but also of the political opposition that has long
been calling for his head.
     In the southern port city of Jacmel, where Haiti plans to hold its
main Carnival celebrations next weekend, former pro-government deputy and
now radio station owner Wilner Content said people barricaded the streets
to prevent Aristide opponents from entering town.

  (Additional reporting by Michael Christie and Amy Bracken in
Port-au-Prince)