18664: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Uprising (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 15 (AP) -- Defying government loyalists, more than
1,000 protesters demonstrated against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on
Sunday as exiled paramilitary forces joined rebels in a bloody uprising
that has killed some 50 people.
   Shouting "Down with Aristide!" members of a broad opposition alliance
known as the Democratic Platform marched through Port-au-Prince, saying
they didn't support violence but shared the same goal as the rebels --
ousting the embattled president.
   "We're still dealing with pacific, nonviolent means, but let me tell
you, we have one goal," said Gilbert Leger, a lawyer and opposition member.
"We do support (rebel) efforts."
   After a peaceful march, demonstrators ended the protest about a quarter
of the way through when police told them they would have to change the
route because of security concerns.
   Militants loyal to Aristide crushed a similar anti-government
demonstration on Thursday, stoning opponents and blocking the protest
route. The government said between seven and a dozen attackers have been
arrested, but a foreign technical adviser to the police said there have
been no arrests.
   On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Aristide to "reach
out to the opposition, to make sure that thugs are not allowed to break up
peaceful demonstrations."
   Haiti has been wracked by violence since Feb. 5, when armed rebels
seeking to oust Aristide launched a rebellion in Gonaives, 70 miles
northwest of Port-au-Prince and Haiti's fourth-largest city. The rebels
have fortified Gonaives with flaming barricades, rusted cars and discarded
refrigerators.
   Although the rebels are still thought to number less than Haiti's
5,000-member police force, paramilitary leaders and police living in exile
in the Dominican Republic have reportedly joined them.
   Two Dominican soldiers were killed on the Dominican border at Dajabon on
Saturday and their weapons were taken from them. It was unclear who was
responsible for the killings, but in recent days a force of 20 men led by
exiled paramilitary leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain crossed the border.
   Dominican President Hipolito Mejia said Sunday that authorities would
arrest any Haitian suspected of taking part in the uprising who tries to
enter the Dominican Republic.
   Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a former Haitian soldier who headed army death
squads in 1987 and a militia known as the Front for the Advancement and
Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH, which killed and maimed hundreds of people
between 1991 and 1994, was seen in Gonaives by several witnesses.
   Chamblain fled to the Dominican Republic after U.S. troops were sent to
restore Aristide to power and end a bloody dictatorship in 1994.
   Also spotted was Guy Philippe, a former police chief who fled to the
Dominican Republic after being accused by the Haitian government of trying
to organize a coup in 2002.
   Witnesses reached by telephone said the men were working with rebels in
Gonaives but were massing in Saint-Michel de l'Atalaye, about 28 miles to
the east.
   Dominican Gen. Fernando Cruz Mendez said Philippe would be arrested if
he tried to re-enter the Dominican Republic.
   In May, Haiti's foreign minister visited the Dominican Republic
requesting that authorities turn over Philippe. Dominican officials had
detained him earlier that month but released him after finding no evidence
to support claims he was plotting against Haiti's government. No
extradition treaty exists between the neighboring countries.
   Meanwhile in Jamaica, police detained 10 Haitians, including eight
police officers, who arrived Saturday by boat to Jamaica's eastern shore
requesting political asylum. Police seized eight guns and some ammunition
from the men. Immigration authorities were reviewing their asylum requests.

   While there has been no reported rise in the numbers of Haitians leaving
for U.S. shores, Aristide's wife -- U.S.-born Mildred Trouillot Aristide --
reportedly flew to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. over the weekend. Presidential
spokeswoman Michelle Karshan said the first lady left to attend a funeral
and would return Monday.
   In another twist, the 13-year-old grandson of Mrs. Aristide's aunt,
former Social Affairs Minister Mathilde Flambert, was reportedly kidnapped
on Friday, friends of the family told The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity. It was unclear who abducted the boy.
   Discontent has grown in this Caribbean country of 8 million people since
Aristide's party swept flawed legislative elections in 2000 and
international donors froze millions of dollars.
   However, Powell said Friday the United States and other nations "will
accept no outcome that ... attempts to remove the elected president of
Haiti."
   The United States sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994 to end a bloody
military dictatorship, restore Aristide and halt an exodus of refugees to
Florida.
   Washington says it plans no new military intervention.