24372: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Violence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 28 (AP) -- Police on Monday fired at peaceful
protesters marking the one-year anniversary of the ouster of former Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and at least two people were killed and
nearly a dozen were wounded.
   About 2,000 protesters waving Aristide pictures and chugging rum started
marching toward the National Palace when they encountered a police vehicle
blocking the road in Bel Air neighborhood, an Aristide stronghold.
   As crowds passed the vehicle, police fired tear gas, then bullets. With
weapons drawn, U.N. peacekeepers surrounded the area.
   Residents carried off the body of one man who appeared to be shot in the
chest, and police removed the second about an hour later, after firing
shots in the air.
   Hundreds of U.N. soldiers from Peru and Brazil had accompanied
protesters.
   "This looked to be peaceful but for some reason, we are not sure why,
the Haitian police arrived and decided to disband the demonstration," said
Cmdr. Carols Chugs Brag, a spokesman for the 7,400-member U.N. peacekeeping
mission.
   Calls to police were not immediately returned.
   Before police opened fire, demonstrators shouted slogans against
President Bush, whom Aristide and his supporters blame for his Feb. 29
ouster. U.S. officials say Aristide left voluntarily. He is now in exile in
South Africa.
   "George Bush is the biggest terrorist!" the crowd yelled before shots
rang out.
   U.S. troops arrived the day Aristide fled and remained until June.
Despite the presence of peacekeepers under Brazilian command, Haiti remains
unstable.
   Former soldiers in the army that Aristide disbanded in 1995 led the
revolt last year. The police, seen as pawns of the U.S.-backed interim
government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, also have faced violent
resistance from Aristide supporters.
   Latortue's government denies it has embarked on a campaign against
Aristide supporters. Hundreds are jailed without charge, including former
Prime Minister Yvonne Neptune.
   The country plans general elections in October and November.