24369: (news) Chamberlain: Police open fire during Haiti protest, one killed (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 28 (Reuters) - One person was killed on
Monday when Haitian police opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators
protesting the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide a year
ago, witnesses said.
     Chanting "Aristide for life," thousands of protesters marched in the
Bel-Air slum to demand the return of the exiled president, who fled Haiti
on Feb. 29 in the face of a bloody rebellion by street gangs and former
soldiers and under pressure from the United States and France.
     Police began shooting as the demonstrators rounded a corner at a
Bel-Air intersection, scattering the panicked crowd, witnesses said. A man
was shot in the head and another person was wounded, they said.
     At least 26 people have been killed in Port-au-Prince slums over the
past five days, bringing the toll to 276 dead since September. Three
soldiers from a Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force were wounded by
gunfire last week, according to U.N. officials.