24326: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Prison Attack (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 21 (AP) -- The director of the national penitentiary
system was fired after nearly 500 inmates escaped during an armed attack on
Haiti's largest prison, officials said Monday.
   Claude Eugene Theodat was dismissed after the attack Saturday that
sparked a riot and left one guard dead, said Edgar Bruneau, a spokesman for
interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.
   "This was a government decision, that's all I can say," Bruneau said.
Theodat could not be reached for comment.
   Police and U.N. troops, meanwhile, kept hunting for the fugitives, but
there were no reports of success.
   Bruneau said the government would create an independent commission of
community leaders to investigate the attack, which has added to a climate
of lawlessness as officials try to prepare for general elections later this
year.
   More than 250 people have died in clashes since September when
supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped up calls for
his return from exile in South Africa. Aristide fled the country Feb. 29
amid a three-week rebellion a year ago.
   Witnesses said the attack began when three or four men dressed in black
and armed with assault rifles drove up to the prison in a jeep and began
firing into the air, touching off a brief gunbattle.
   In December, gunmen opened fire outside the prison and inmates living in
overcrowded and unsanitary conditions rioted.