18463: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Uprising (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By IAN JAMES

   GONAIVES, Feb 11 (AP) -- Police attacked rebels holed up in a slum in
the port city of St. Marc on Wednesday and gunmen loyal to President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide torched homes, killing two people as looting and
reprisals raged in a popular revolt that has left at least 45 dead.
   Outside Gonaives, where the uprising began last Thursday, witnesses said
people "necklaced" a man accused of being an Aristide spy. "They put tires
on him, poured gasoline and burned him," 17-year-old Patricia Joseph told a
reporter. "Everyone stood up and said it was good."
   With the Haitian government locked in a deadly battle with opponents,
the White House on Wednesday issued a rebuke of Aristide's government.
   "We are extremely concerned about the wave of violence spreading through
Haiti. And we certainly deeply regret the loss of life," said Scott
McClellan, press secretary to President Bush. "We call on the government to
respect the rights, especially human rights, of the citizens and residents
of Haiti."
   Haiti has suffered increasing violence since Aristide's party swept
flawed legislative elections in 2000 and international donors blocked
millions in aid. Opponents say they will not take part in new elections
unless Aristide resigns.
   In St. Marc, an important port 45 miles west of Port-au-Prince, gunmen
loyal to Aristide shot up a southern neighborhood before dawn Wednesday and
torched three houses, witnesses told The Associated Press. They said two
people were killed; it was unclear whether they died in the blaze or in the
shooting.
   Government opponents burned down a clinic because officials refused to
hand over two wounded anti-government militants, Radio Vision 2000
reported. It said Aristide militants seeking revenge then set an opposition
radio station ablaze.
   In the northern port of Cap-Haitien, sporadic gunshots crackled
overnight and attackers looted a food warehouse, taking advantage of a
blackout because the city has run out of fuel for generators.
   Aristide supporters set up blazing barricades, blocking the city for a
second day against a possible rebel incursion.
   "We're going to devour them," Jean-Claude Joseph, 35, said at a
roadblock.
   In Gonaives, rebels controlled crowds fighting over dwindling gasoline
supplies.
   "Get in line. Don't push!" shouted three rebels who held their rifles
high in the air in warning. People obeyed.
   "I've been here since 6 o'clock," Antrecil Petithomme, in her 60s,
complained in the crowd hoping to fill jerry cans.
   "I want to resell it and try to buy some flour to make food," she said,
explaining food prices have multiplied since rebels and citizens supporting
them have blocked roads with massive barricades against a possible
counterattack by police.
   But no police were seen near the city 60 miles from Port-au-Prince, and
government officials indicated that, to prevent civilian casualties, any
counterattack might take time.
   "To avoid the suffering and involvement of the civilian population, we
have to implement a strategy," Gerard Dubreuille, undersecretary for public
security, said Tuesday. "Our reaction may be slow, it will be efficient."
   Police have retaken three of 11 towns in northern and western Haiti.
   Radio reports said gunmen had torched two northern police stations on
Monday, forcing police to flee from Limbe and Bassin Bleu. Police stations
are a major target of the revolt, which the government calls a coup
attempt, because officers are accused of siding with government supporters
in increasingly violent protests that began mid-September.
   In St. Marc, a city of about 100,000 people, witnesses said police were
firing at rebels holed up in a midtown slum.
   Rebels seized the city Sunday, and hundreds of residents looted shipping
containers.
   On Monday, after sporadic gunbattles, police reoccupied the town.
   The Haitian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross
said they were having difficulty evacuating wounded people and supplying
hospitals, and complained armed people were breaking into hospitals.
   "Each day wounded people in dire need of medical care are being rushed
to hospitals," said a statement.
   The World Health Organization said a food crisis is looming because
roadblocks are preventing deliveries to 268,000 people in the north
dependent on food aid.
   Dozens of barricades, made up of burned-out trucks, commandeered cars,
boulders, felled trees and blazing tires set atop heaps of garbage, have
blocked the road to northern Haiti, particularly at Gonaives.
   The Democratic Platform opposition coalition said it was trying to get
government permission for a peaceful demonstration in Port-au-Prince on
Thursday. The coalition has distanced itself from the bloody uprising, led
by a gang formerly allied with Aristide and former soldiers who helped oust
him in a 1991 coup.