23352: (Chamberlain) Gunbattle between UN and Aristide supportersHaiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 9 (AP) -- A gunbattle broke out between U.N.
peacekeepers and supporters of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide on Saturday, wounding a peacekeeper for the first time in the
force's 4-month-old mission.
   The clashes, which Haitian police said also left one officer wounded,
came as protesters in the northwestern city of Gonaives crowded outside a
Mass for flood victims accusing Haiti's interim president and prime
minister -- who were attending -- of not doing enough to help hungry
survivors three weeks after Tropical Storm Jeanne.
   Heavy gunfire erupted in the capital of Port-au-Prince after about 150
Brazilian troops using armored vehicles and 150 Haitian police in trucks
rolled into the volatile slum of Bel Air, where armed young men have been
demanding the return of Aristide from exile, Brazilian Lt. Col. Ezequiel
Izaias said.
   Peacekeepers "came under heavy fire and they returned fire," said U.N.
spokesman Toussaint Kongo-Doudou.
   The Brazilian soldier was wounded in the foot -- the first casualty
among some 3,000 peacekeepers, Kongo-Doudou said. He also said it appeared
some of the gunmen were wounded, but it was unclear how many.
   Kongo-Doudou said troops and police arrested more than 60 people
suspected of attacking them. Police were seen detaining some men, holding
them to the ground at gunpoint and tying their hands with rope.
   The clashes came a day after the beheaded bodies of a father and son
were found in another Port-au-Prince slum of La Saline.
   Elsewhere Saturday, Argentine peacekeepers guarded a cathedral in the
northwestern city of Gonaives from more than 100 protesters, who shouted
insults at visiting interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and President
Boniface Alexandre.
   "If the government doesn't take responsibility for things here, then we
will. Remember, it was Gonaives that got rid of Aristide," rebel Wilfort
Ferdinand said, addressing protesters and hundreds of other onlookers.
   An estimated 200,000 people are homeless in Gonaives, many living on
sidewalks and rooftops. Beating on buckets and waving tree boughs,
protesters snaked through the crowd chanting, "We are not afraid and we
won't give in to pressure!" They complained Latortue's interim government
hasn't done enough to help flood victims since Tropical Storm Jeanne struck
three weeks ago.
   "The floods took everything we own. The government hasn't done anything.
We don't want Latortue anymore," said Estime Derival, a 21-year-old
protester.
   The storm unleashed floods and mudslides that killed at least 1,870 and
left some 884 missing, most presumed dead.
   At least 26 people have been killed in violence that erupted as Aristide
supporters stepped up protests near the end of September, demanding their
leader's return from exile in South Africa and an end to "the invasion" --
referring to U.S. Marines who arrived as Aristide left in February and U.N.
peacekeepers who took over in June.
   Saturday's protest in Gonaives involved a different camp -- Aristide
opponents. It was a striking shift, because Saturday's heckling aimed at
Latortue by some of the rebels came in the same square where Latortue had
praised them as "freedom fighters" after Aristide left. A small number in
the crowd chanted "Latortue's a thief!"
   More than 500 worshippers filled the St. Charles Boromee Cathedral as a
choir sang hymns for the ceremonial funeral. Latortue and Alexandre sat
stone-faced. The crowd of onlookers outside swelled to about 2,000 as the
leaders walked to the nearby mayor's office, escorted by police.
   "I am a son of Gonaives. I'm not going to let Gonaives die," Latortue
said through a bullhorn before leaving for a cemetery where he and the
president laid a wreath at a mass grave where hundreds of victims are
buried.
   The U.S. State Department warned Americans on Friday not to travel to
the Caribbean country except for emergencies, citing "serious risks."
   ------
   Associated Press writer Stevenson Jacobs in Gonaives contributed to this
report.