23664: (pub) Chamberlain: Death toll rises (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHELLE FAUL

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 29 (AP) -- The executions of four young men in a
slum stronghold of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide brought to at
least 79 the number killed in a month of violence in Haiti's capital.
   Traffic filled the streets Friday in many parts of Port-au-Prince as
calm returned a day after the four were found shot in the back of the head
in Bel Air, a slum that overlooks the National Palace.
   Citing the violence and allegations of political persecution, Foreign
Minister Rudy Insanally of Guyana said Friday that leaders of the 15-member
Caribbean Community should think twice about re-establishing ties with
Haiti.
   Those ties were frozen shortly after Aristide's Feb. 29 ouster.
   Caribbean leaders will have to "go back to the drawing board" when they
meet in Trinidad next month, Insanally said. Even some countries that had
voted to reintegrate Haiti into the 15-member bloc are "now concerned about
the security situation ... and the inability of the (interim government) to
control what is happening," he said.
   Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has accused Aristide of
orchestrating violence from exile in South Africa to destabilize the
interim government, which plans elections next year.
   A week ago, Latortue also told The Associated Press that his government
had re-established good relations with most members of the Caribbean
Community.
   In the latest violence, gunbattles broke out Thursday between police and
militant Aristide supporters. Police said one officer was wounded.
   Witnesses to Thursday's killings said gunmen in black uniforms arrived
in a police vehicle, dragged the four men out, made them lie face down on
the ground and shot them.
   They said the gunmen were police, but Haiti's government denies its
officers have embarked on a campaign of summary executions.
   Witnesses also said 13 people were executed Tuesday in the Fort National
slum by men who appeared to be police.
   Police and Latortue denied the accusations. Latortue suggested the
attackers were agents of Aristide.
   Aristide has denied involvement and accused the United States of
orchestrating his ouster, a charge the U.S. government denies.
   Others say the attackers could be ex-soldiers from the army Aristide
disbanded in 1995. They were among rebels who helped oust Aristide and have
refused to disarm.
   The latest violence started Sept. 30, when police reportedly fired on
protesters demanding Aristide's return, killing two. The beheaded bodies of
three police officers were found the next day.
   A Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force is trying to stabilize the
country. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has said there is an
urgent need for more international help.
   On Friday about 30 people held a demonstration for peace in
Port-au-Prince. They marched under police escort, chanting "Haiti must
change!"

   ----
   Associated Press Writer Bert Wilkinson, in Guyana, contributed to this
report.