18435: Esser: Violence Spreads in Haiti as Gov't Gangs Fight Back (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Reuters
Violence Spreads in Haiti as Gov't Gangs Fight Back
Tue February 10, 2004 09:56 PM ET

By Michael Christie

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (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.

Late on Tuesday, the State Department issued a new travel warning on
Haiti, urging U.S. citizens to leave the country if they can do so
safely. It said it had authorized the voluntary departure of
nonessential embassy staff and family members.

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.

POLICE DO NOT FIGHT WARS

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 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)

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