23542: (Chamberlain) Haiti police call for help (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 20 (AP) -- Gunshots rang out in a neighborhood loyal
to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday as police pleaded
for help, citing a lack of weapons and problems with rogue officers who
were allegedly tipping off suspected gangsters.
   Scattered violence has killed at least 55 people and paralyzed parts of
the Haitian capital since a demonstration on Sept. 30 marking the
anniversary of Aristide's first ouster in a 1991 military coup.
   U.S. troops restored Aristide in 1994, but he was toppled again in
February after a three week rebellion.
   Much of the recent unrest has come from the capital's Bel Air slum, an
Aristide stronghold.
   "The objective of the police now is to control Bel Air," said Bruce
Myrtil, a spokesman for the Haitian National Police.
   Myrtil said rogue officers tipped off suspected gangsters on a planned
operation at a Port-au-Prince hotel believed to be their base. Rewards were
being offered to coax residents into providing information about known
gangsters.
   Aristide, in exile in South Africa, lashed out at Haiti's Interim Prime
Minister Gerard Latortue, accusing him of lying to cover up his failure to
restore peace.
   The accusation followed an angry exchange between the Haitian and South
African governments over allegations Aristide was fomenting violence in the
Caribbean nation from his refuge in Pretoria.
   Aristide, who has denied links to violence in Haiti, did not respond to
the specific claim but issued a statement Wednesday saying Latortue had
"unleashed a new torrent of repression in Haiti and is now looking for a
scapegoat."
   Aristide said Latortue "acknowledged that he is a killer" when he
admitted in a radio interview that government forces opened fire on the
Sept. 30 demonstration. Latortue has denied any wrongdoing by authorities.
   Latortue claimed Sunday that South African President Thabo Mbeki was
allowing Aristide to coordinate violence in Haiti. South Africa's Deputy
Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad on Monday rejected the claim "with contempt."
   Meanwhile, police were awaiting a weapons shipment to help the
ill-equipped force, Myrtil said. Many police stations were looted of arms,
ammunition and patrol cars during a three-week rebel revolt in February
that pushed Aristide from power.
   Haitian officials on Tuesday said the United States has lifted a 13-year
arms embargo on the island nation. U.S. officials have said the embargo
remains in place, but the State Department on Friday said it would consider
individual requests from Haiti for weapons purchases.
   Myrtil told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the police need heavy
arms because many of the gangs have assault weapons.
   Since the Sept. 30 demonstration, 10 police officers have been killed,
and five have reportedly been beheaded.
   Gunfire continued to crackle in Bel Air on Wednesday but it was not
immediately clear if there were any injuries.
   U.N. peacekeepers patrolled the tense neighborhood. But the troops, part
of a 3,000-strong force sent to help stabilize Haiti after Aristide's
departure, have done little to disarm the gangs or rebels, who have refused
to lay down their weapons.