20425: (Chamberlain) U.S. Marine wounded in Haiti as Aristide nears (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie and Ibon Villelabeitia

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. troops suffered their
first casualty in Haiti when a Marine was injured by gunmen as the poor
Caribbean country braced for the return to the region of ousted President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     Aristide, a former slum priest driven out by a monthlong rebellion and
U.S. pressure, was expected to land in Jamaica on Monday for a visit
Haiti's new government and U.S. officials fear will galvanize his die-hard
supporters and stoke tensions.
     Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said a Marine was hit on Sunday night when a
patrol, on foot and in Humvees, was attacked by several gunmen in the
Port-au-Prince shantytown of Belair, where support for Aristide remains
strong.
     "One Marine was wounded in the left arm. He was evacuated to Miami.
His condition is not life-threatening," Lapan said. "This is our first
casualty. We believe it was an ambush."
     Marines fired back but it was unknown whether any attackers were hit.
     The Marines leading a 2,650-strong international force have fought
half a dozen battles with Aristide loyalists since they landed on Feb. 29,
hours after the president went into exile. The Marines have killed six
people.
     In a ceremony at the international force's new headquarters, U.S.
Marine Corp. Brig. Gen. Ronald Coleman formally took over the
U.N.-sanctioned deployment.
     Coleman will be in charge of not just U.S. Marines, the bulk of the
force, but also of French gendarmes and legionnaires, and Canadian and
Chilean troops.
     "This is not an occupation force," Coleman said.
     He told reporters later that Sunday night's shooting "will only
increase our resolve to do what needs to be done."
     The troops were sent to restore order after more than 200 people were
killed in the revolt that broke out on Feb. 5, and after Aristide's flight
triggered looting and reprisal killings.
     Many slum dwellers, who see Aristide as a champion of the poor and
reject accusations he became a corrupt despot, believe he was kidnapped in
a U.S.-backed coup.
     Aristide's followers say they hope his proximity in Jamaica, just 115
miles (185 km) from Haiti's shores, will herald the eventual return of
Haiti's first democratically elected leader.
     Aristide left the Central African Republic, where he and his wife have
been since he was ousted, early on Monday despite strong U.S. and Haitian
objections.
     He was whisked away on a jet chartered by a delegation of U.S. and
Jamaican lawmakers. The plane made a first refueling stop in the West
African country of Senegal.
     Jamaica's prime minister has said Aristide would spend up to 10 weeks
there. He has not been granted asylum in Jamaica.
     Jamaican lawmaker Sharon Hay Webster said the delegation's goal was to
arrange for the ousted leader to see his two children, who have been
staying in the United States.
     New Prime Minister Gerard Latortue again criticized Jamaica for
allowing the visit, promising to summon the country's ambassador.
     "We cannot accept this," Latortue told Reuters Television.
     While attention was focused on Aristide's return to the Caribbean,
Latortue continued to put together a cabinet he hopes will unite the
divided country and end bloodshed.
     His goal of reconciliation may be undermined by arrests over the
weekend that seemed to target members of Aristide's Lavalas Family
political movement.
     Humanitarian relief agencies were also getting back to work in the
poorest country of the Americas, where a quarter of a million people were
dependent on handouts even before the crisis began.
     The first U.N. food convoy in more than a month reached the northern
city of Cap Haitien and was distributing emergency supplies to feed 3,700
children on Monday.
     Cap Haitien, Haiti's second largest city with around 500,000 people,
has been cut off from Port-au-Prince since Feb. 5 and is still run by
former soldiers who joined the revolt.
     "We expect they will respect the humanitarian work on the ground,"
World Food Program spokesman Alejandro Chicheri said.

  (Additional reporting by Jean-Lambert Ngouandji in Bangui, David Clarke
in Dakar and Andrew Gray in Abidjan)