18419: (Chamberlain) Violence spreads in Haiti as gov't gangs fight back (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The Haitian government and
armed supporters fought back on Tuesday against a rebellion that has
threatened the rule of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the impoverished
Caribbean nation.
     Pro-Aristide militia in the country's second-largest city,
Cap-Haitien, attacked the homes of political opponents, ordered local radio
stations off the air and erected blazing barricades to halt any advance by
armed rebels, local media reported.
     The authorities said they had taken back at least two towns from armed
opposition gangs, who launched a revolt six days ago that has killed at
least 34 people and presented Aristide with his greatest challenge in
months of anti-government protests. Almost a dozen police stations have
been torched.
     Those residents of Cap-Haitien who could afford tickets packed
commercial flights to the capital Port-au-Prince to flee the wrath of
government supporters, residents said.
     As violence spread in the poorest country of the Americas, the United
States said any solution would require deep changes in the way Haiti was
governed.
     "It's clear from the kind of proposals that have been made and the
discussions that are being held that when we talk about undergoing change
in the way Haiti is governed, I think that could indeed involve changes in
Aristide's position," a U.S. official said.
     A former Roman Catholic priest once hailed as a champion of Haiti's
fragile democracy, Aristide's popularity has waned since parliamentary
elections in 2000 were declared flawed, and as deep-seated poverty kept the
bulk of Haitians in its grip.
     The current armed revolt began last Thursday when a former
pro-Aristide gang drove police from the country's fourth city, Gonaives,
capping months of anti-government demonstrations from opponents who accuse
Aristide of corruption and violence.
     Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, speaking before the U.S. comments,
dismissed any suggestion that Aristide should fall on his sword and said he
had been democratically elected.
     The prime minister said the 5,000-member police force could not
restore order alone, but he was confident the police would get support from
the populace.
     Haiti does not have an army to rely on for public order as it was
disbanded after Aristide was restored to power in 1994 by a U.S.-led
invasion after having been ousted in a military coup. "The mission of the
police force is not to declare war, or to go to war," Neptune said.
     "But what we know is that with the help of the population who is
opposed to terrorism, the national police force and the government, we will
find ways to get rid of the terrorists," he told Reuters in an interview.
     In addition to the large port town of Saint Marc, 65 miles (105 km)
north of the capital Port-au-Prince, retaken by the government and armed
supporters on Monday, police reasserted state control in Grand Goave, to
the southwest.
     Two Saint Marc neighborhoods remained under rebel control on Tuesday,
but the rest appeared to be returning to normal.
     Meanwhile, government supporters hit back elsewhere.
     Radio Metropole said two opposition leaders were shot and 12 houses
torched in the northern town of Dondon, briefly held on Monday by
anti-government gunmen.
     In Cap-Haitien, a restaurant and two banks went up in flames after a
pro-government militia attacked an opposition neighborhood. Several people
were detained, injured or had disappeared, radio stations said.
     Gunshots rang out across the city of half a million overnight, they
added, and gasoline supplies ran dry after deliveries from Gonaives were
stopped by the rebels.
     In Port-au-Prince, the National Coalition for the Rights of Haitians
said at least five opposition members were lynched or executed in the slum
of Cite Soleil.

  (Additional reporting by Amy Bracken)