23342: (Chamberlain) Policemen killed during pro-Aristide demonstration (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

  By ARIANA CUBILLOS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept 30 (AP) -- Gunfire erupted as Haitians calling for
the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched near the
presidential palace on Thursday, killing at least three police officers as
hundreds scattered to safety in side streets.
   Demonstrators shot and killed three officers, and were believed to have
kidnapped a fourth, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse said. No deaths were
reported among the marchers.
   The violence came after armed rebels who toppled Aristide in February
challenged U.N. peacekeepers at the entrance to the flood-ravage city of
Gonaives, in a litmus test of a country where power appears to be up for
grabs.
   The rebels withdrew after a period of tension Wednesday night, but
warned they might return. "No foreigner has the right to tell us to put
down our arms," rebel leader Remissainthe Ravix said.
   Thursday's violence ratcheted up tension in the country reeling from
Tropical Storm Jeanne. Rescuers have recovered more than 1,550 bodies in
northwest Haiti, most in the third-largest city of Gonaives, and some 900
are missing, according to government officials.
   Several people were wounded by the gunfire in Port-au-Prince, U.N.
spokesman Toussaint Kongo-Doudou said. He said U.N. troops believe a
gunfight broke out between Aristide supporters and private security guards
of shops looted during the march.
   Judicial police chief Michael Lucius said there were exchanges of
gunfire between police and demonstrators.
   Supporters of Aristide, now in exile in South Africa, were commemorating
the 13th anniversary of his 1991 ouster by Haiti's army. They also used the
occasion to demand an end to "the occupation" and "the invasion" by foreign
troops, which began with U.S. Marines replaced by U.N. peacekeepers in
June.
   Thousands of slumdwellers wound through downtown streets of
Port-au-Prince, carrying photos of Aristide and chanting "Like it or not,
Aristide will return!"
   About an hour into the march, demonstrators passed through the plaza in
front of the National Palace and were a few blocks away when shots rang out
repeatedly and continued sporadically for 20 minutes.
   Brazilian troops were in armored vehicles nearby, Kongo-Doudou said.
   The marchers also directed their criticism at the United States,
chanting "Down with Bush!"
   Aristide has accused U.S. agents of kidnapping him when he was flown out
of the country on a U.S.-chartered jet Feb. 29.
   Rebels now have formed a political party which Aristide supporters --
including a vast majority of Haiti's poor -- say is aimed at returning
power to the hands of a lighter skinned elite.
   Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1990. He was
ousted within months by the army, returned by a U.S. invasion in 1994, was
forced to step down by U.S. pressure and a term limit, and was re-elected
in 2000.
   ------
   Associated Press reporters Paisley Dodds and Regine Alexandre in
Port-au-Prince and Michael Norton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to
this report.