19003: (Chamberlain) Rebels overrun Haiti's second city in fierce battle (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie and Alistair Scrutton

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Columns of balaclava-wearing
rebels overran Haiti's second-largest city Cap Haitien on Sunday and drove
police from their headquarters in an escalation of a bloody rebellion
against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     Heavy gunfire rattled throughout the city as a rebel force of about
200 scattered poorly trained and outnumbered police before them and people
ran for cover. Flights from the capital were suspended.
     "I believe the city is under rebel control," Alejandro Chicheri, a
spokesman for the World Food Program in Haiti, told Reuters. He had been in
contact with aid workers in Cap Haitien. "But I think there is still some
combat left."
     Local hotel owner Nicolas Bussenius said people were looting the port
for grain bags, prisoners had been freed from jail and sporadic gunfire was
heard. A Reuters TV crew flying by in a plane saw smoke arising from at
least two buildings.
     "People are now worried that with prisoners free they are going to
settle old scores," Bussenius told Reuters by telephone from Cap Haitien.
     Residents of Cap Haitien, the last major pro-government bastion in the
north to hold out against the two-week revolt in which over 50 people have
been killed, said trucks with rebels in military fatigues raced through the
streets. Unconfirmed reports said the airport had been taken.
     Armed supporters of Aristide, who have attacked rebel sympathizers
over the past two weeks in panic at rumors of impending attack,
commandeered a plane at the Cap Haitien airport, radio stations said.
     "I've asked for back-up from Port-au-Prince," Cap Haitien police
commissioner Charles Chily told Reuters. "They said they're coming. We're
waiting." Contact with the police commissioner was broken off shortly
afterward and aid workers said the police station was burnt down.
     The sudden attack on Cap Haitien, two weeks after it was isolated from
the capital by the uprising which has spread through the north of the
impoverished Caribbean country, came a day after a U.S.-led peace mission
failed to get the political opposition to agree to a deal with Aristide.
     Western diplomats, alarmed at the news of the assault on Cap Haitien,
warned the insurgents they would not be allowed to take over the country of
8 million.
     "We will not accept them taking power in Port-au-Prince," a senior
Western diplomat told reporters in the capital, speaking on condition he
not be identified. "If they prove successful, they will be unable to
translate military victory into a political solution."
     While many Haitians celebrated Carnival dancing in the streets of the
capital, near the presidential home on its outskirts the atmosphere was
more tense. Pro-Aristide gangs had erected barricades on roads near the
residence.
     The rebellion, started by a street gang but now including ex-soldiers
and a former death squad leader, capped months of demonstrations by foes of
Aristide who want the president to resign but have distanced themselves
from the armed rebels.
     Closer to Port-au-Prince, armed rebels overnight attacked a police
station in Poste Cazeaux 12 miles (20 km) north of the capital, but
pro-Aristide militia were in charge on Sunday.
     It appeared to be the nearest assault yet to Haiti's capital since an
armed gang took over the city of Gonaives on Feb. 5 in a revolt that spread
through the north to a dozen towns and villages.
     Once regarded as a champion of Haiti's fragile democracy after decades
of dictatorship, the priest turned president faces accusations of
corruption and political violence.
     He dismisses the opposition as a wealthy elite and has branded the
armed rebels in the north "terrorists."
     Officials from the United States, Canada, France, the Organization of
American States and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on Saturday got
Aristide to agree to the selection of a new prime minister by a body of
"wise men," and the appointment of a new cabinet.
     But faced with a revolt in their ranks if they allow Aristide to
remain as head of state, the political opposition composed of businessmen,
civic leaders, artists and Aristide's political rivals refused to sign up.
     They were given until Monday evening to come up with a final response.
Aristide agreed to the same plan at talks with Caribbean nations last month
but the opposition rejected it.
     The peace deal now on the table did not directly address the revolt,
but U.S. and Canadian officials have said the international community would
be willing to step in possibly with foreign police once an accord had been
struck.

  (Additional reporting by Amy Bracken)