23446: (Chamberlain) Shooting as police enter Bel Air (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 15 (AP) -- Heavy gunfire erupted Friday when police
streamed into a slum stronghold of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
as his loyalists blocked streets with flaming debris to mark the 10th
anniversary of Aristide's return from his first exile.
   Tensions surged in the capital, where two weeks of shootouts and
beheadings have killed at least 48 people. Former Haitian soldiers, who
hold sway over much of the countryside, are threatening to deploy into
Port-au-Prince over the objections of the interim government, which is
backed by an overextended and beleaguered U.N. peacekeeping force.
   The U.S. State Department urged all nonessential embassy personnel and
family members to leave the country. The department also upgraded its
travel warning for Haiti, saying moving in and outside the capital can be
hazardous because police are ineffective and peacekeepers are not fully
deployed.
   It was unclear who was doing the shooting Friday as police in cars and
on foot entered the barricaded Bel Air slum, which overlooks the
presidential National Palace. A plume of acrid smoke rose as people set a
bonfire of tires and trash.
   A few hundred supporters of Aristide's Lavalas Family party held a
peaceful demonstration there earlier, Haiti's Radio Plus reported,
broadcasting chants of "Only Lavalas, no matter what happens!"
   The crackle of automatic gunfire also exploded in two other
neighborhoods.
   Aristide's backers are demanding his return from exile as they mark his
restoration to power in 1994 through the intervention of 20,000 U.S. troops
who ended three years of brutal military rule. Aristide fled again this
past Feb. 29 as former soldiers leading a bloody rebellion neared
Port-au-Prince.
   The ex-soldiers have not been disarmed since U.S. Marines flew in the
same day Aristide fled, then handed over in June to U.N. peacekeepers.
   Haiti's latest crisis erupted when Aristide supporters demonstrated
Sept. 30 to demand his return from exile in South Africa and an end to "the
occupation" by foreign troops. Police reportedly shot and killed two
protesters, and the next day three police were found beheaded.
   Police spokeswoman Gessy Coicou told a news conference Friday that 21
police officers have been killed and 23 wounded in the line of duty since
March. The Haitian Press Network said 10 officers were killed in the past
two weeks, and five were beheaded.
   Haiti's ex-soldiers and business leaders have accused U.N. peacekeepers
of being ineffective.
   Haiti's Chamber of Commerce criticized a "flagrant paradox in the
merciless struggle against terrorism of the great powers of the world and
... the surprising inadequacy of how international troops are deployed in
Haiti."
   Business leaders called for a "day of protest against terrorism," and
many heeded the call Friday, staying home while banks, stores and gas
stations were locked up. U.N. peacekeepers in armored vehicles rolled
through deserted streets as police stood watch at intersections.
   With fewer than half the 8,000 troops promised, the Brazilian-led force
is overextended in the nation of 8 million.
   State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington was pressing
countries that have committed a total of 6,100 troops to deploy quickly. He
said they expected Haiti to have 5,100 peacekeepers by the end of November.
   Just before sunset Thursday, the central neighborhood of Poste Marchand
was besieged by men running through the streets, firing shots into the air
and burning cars just blocks from the National Palace, guarded by
peacekeepers in armored cars.
   In its travel advisory, the State Department warned Friday against "the
potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set by armed
gangs or by the police; and the possibility of random violent crime,
including kidnapping, carjacking and assault."
   The violence has disrupted efforts to feed storm survivors in the
northwestern city of Gonaives, where Tropical Storm Jeanne killed some
1,900 people and left an additional 900 missing and some 200,000 homeless.
   Human rights activists criticized the government for jailing dozens of
Aristide supporters, including Roman Catholic Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, who
was detained at Saint Claire Church by a squad including masked officers,
on suspicion he harbored political gangsters, officials said.
   Police have reported detaining more than 140 people in the violence, and
said 40 still were jailed.
   Other Aristide allies behind bars include former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune and two politicians held on suspicion of masterminding violence --
Senate President Yvon Feuille and ex-legislator Roudy Herivaux. None has
been formally charged.