20722: (Chamberlain) Police and rebels talk in Cap-Haitien (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PAISLEY DODDS

   CAP-HAITIEN, March 23 (AP) -- Police and former rebels held emergency
talks Tuesday after gunfire erupted within 48 hours of the return of police
to Cap-Haitien, a strategic port city claimed by rebels during the
insurgency that ousted Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   Late Monday, shots rang out in front of a charred police station manned
by rebels and by a hillside hotel rebels used as a headquarters after they
seized this strategic northern port city Feb. 22.
   Neither side admitted to firing the shots.
   The dispute underscores the challenges in Haiti's north, where rebels
have stepped in to fill the void in law enforcement. During the insurgency,
many police and government workers fled their posts fearing reprisal
attacks.
   "There are some problems between factions of the police and rebels right
now but we're trying to work out these misunderstandings," said Renan
Etienne, the city's new police chief and director of police in the
country's northern departments.
   More than 30 police officers have returned to the city -- Haiti's second
largest with more than 500,000 people -- but former rebels still outnumber
and outgun police.
   Human rights groups have criticized the former rebels for targeting
former supporters of Aristide or his Lavalas Family party. On Tuesday, the
ex-commandos were holding five prisoners and had just released nearly a
dozen who they say committed crimes ranging from theft to illegal weapons.
Two were being held on allegations they were armed Aristide loyalists.
   Rights groups also were questioning interim Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue's actions at a weekend rally, where he celebrated the gangsters
who began Haiti's uprising as "freedom fighters."
   The New York-based National Coalition for Haitian Rights accused
Latortue of "fanning the flames of lawlessness" when he shared a platform
with rebel leaders in his hometown of Gonaives on Saturday.
   Meanwhile, Lavalas officials appeared to be regrouping and warned there
could be no peace without the participation of Haiti's largest political
movement.
   "Everywhere Lavalas is a victim," said Sen. Yvon Feuille, a Lavalas
member. "Besides those physical massacres, we see there is a political
massacre being prepared behind Lavalas' back," he said. "Without Lavalas,
there is no solution."
   Aristide left Feb. 29, claiming he was forced from power by the United
States as rebels threatened to attack Port-au-Prince. Some 3,300 troops
from the United States, France, Chile and Canada are in Haiti as
peacekeepers. More than 150 French troops are patrolling the north,
sometimes passing armed commandos and the newly arrived police.
   Under a U.S.-sponsored plan, Latortue last week formed a transitional
government that he said is neutral but includes no Lavalas member and is
loaded with Cabinet members critical of Aristide.
   Aristide is staying temporarily in Jamaica, but Nigeria announced Monday
it has agreed to a request by Caribbean leaders to grant him temporary
asylum. Allies said the exiled leader is not interested in the offer.
   Latortue, the United States and others have criticized Jamaica for
accepting Aristide, saying his presence near Haiti would raise tensions.