23470: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Feared Arisitide ralies not held (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Oct. 16, 2004


HAITI
Feared Aristide rallies not held
Haiti's capital closed Friday amid fears that massive protests would be
staged by supporters of ousted President JeanBertrand Aristide. No
demonstrations emerged.
BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH
snesmith@herald.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The streets of the capital were nearly deserted for a
second day this week as businesses closed and residents huddled in their
homes fearing violent political protests.

No one demonstrated Friday as expected on the 10th anniversary of the return
of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his first exile -- he has since
been ousted a second time, and some here are demanding a second return.

There was sporadic gunfire in Bel Air and a few Aristide strongholds that
were patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers and heavily armed Haitian riot police.
Gunfire was also reported in downtown Port-au-Prince. There were no reports
of injuries or deaths as the U.N. force, brought in after Aristide's ouster
earlier this year, moved throughout the capital.

Bel Air, just blocks from the presidential palace, has frequently been a
flash point in Haiti's most recent crisis, which began Sept. 30 and has left
dozens dead, some of them decapitated.

On Friday, residents crouched behind utility poles and in doorways,
worriedly watching the police. Each time shots rang out, many scurried for
cover.

In some other neighborhoods, residents who support Aristide erected
roadblocks of flaming tires and burned-out vehicles left over from previous
protests.

''We certainly expected more, and I'm still holding my breath,'' said
Commissioner David Beer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the
commander of the international police force. He said the international
forces were not threatened.

The U.S. Embassy, which sent home families of staffers and nonemergency
staff, closed Friday in solidarity with a strike called by business leaders
to decry terror.

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