23422: (Chamberlain) Priest arrested (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 14 (AP) -- Police in Haiti detained a priest on
suspicion of links to violence, while ex-soldiers who carried out a bloody
revolt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said reinforcements were
headed for the capital to help put down clashes that have killed at least
48 people.
   The priest, Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, was detained at his church Wednesday
on suspicion of organizing meetings with pro-Aristide gang leaders during
two weeks of gunbattles and beheadings, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse
said.
   "We had links between him and the perpetrators of the barbaric acts,"
Gousse said. "He was sheltering these people, organizing meetings in his
home with gang leaders."
   Aristide supporters armed with guns and machetes later rampaged in the
Delmas neighborhood where the arrest occurred, threatening people, Gousse
said. No injuries were reported.
   The arrest came as rebels who led a February uprising against Aristide
said more ex-soldiers were coming to Port-au-Prince to help provide
security -- a move that threatens conflict with Aristide loyalists and U.N.
peacekeepers.
   More than 30 men in fatigues, some heavily armed, gathered at an
apartment building used as a base in Petionville, a suburb of
Port-au-Prince. Former Maj. Remissainthe Ravix said other ex-soldiers were
coming from more than two dozen bases around the country.
   He declined to say how many. Ex-soldiers say the core rebel force,
previously estimated at 200, has been joined by many recruits.
   Gousse said the ex-soldiers wouldn't be permitted in the city as a
security force. "They are not welcome," he said. National Police Chief Leon
Charles said the government will accept only police and U.N. peacekeepers
as security forces.
   Last week the U.S.-backed interim government said it would integrate
some ex-soldiers into security efforts, but didn't give specifics on how.
   Rebel leaders say they want to reinstate the army that Aristide
disbanded.
   Some Haitians denounced the arrest of Jean-Juste, a vocal supporter of
Aristide.
   "This continues the long list of arbitrary and politically motivated
arrests to silence the pro-democracy fires still burning bright in Haiti,"
the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network said in a statement.
   Port-au-Prince has been plagued by unrest since Aristide supporters
stepped up demands that he be restored to power from exile in South Africa.
It began with a Sept. 30 protest marking the 1991 coup when soldiers first
ousted Aristide. Police reportedly shot and killed two protesters, and the
next day three police were found beheaded.
   Aristide backers say the police started the bloodshed, while the
government blames Aristide's Lavalas Family party and a terror campaign
dubbed "Operation Baghdad."
   Hospital records show at least 19 people died of gunshot wounds this
week, including two who died Wednesday. That raised the toll to at least 48
killed since Sept. 30.
   Ravix said ex-soldiers are tired of sitting by as violence rages.
Holding a poster with photos of alleged criminals, he said: "This is a list
of bandits. The police can't get them. I will arrest all of them."
   Rebels, who still control much of the countryside, have accused U.N.
troops of being ineffective.
   Aristide left the country again Feb. 29 after a revolt led by a street
gang and ex-soldiers. U.S. Marines arrived the day he left, and U.N.
peacekeepers took over in June.
   The U.N. force was to include 8,000 troops and police, but so far has
about 3,700.
   Meanwhile, in Gonaives Red Cross officials suspended aid operations
after a French Red Cross truck was held up at gunpoint Tuesday and looted,
mission director Marie-Helene Meaux said. She said Red Cross workers from
several countries stopped work in the city.
   Tropical Storm Jeanne left some 1,900 dead and 900 missing. An estimated
200,000 were homeless in Gonaives.