24903: (news) Chamberlain: At least five die in gunfire at Haiti demo (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 27 (Reuters) - At least five people were
killed by gunfire during a political demonstration on Wednesday in Haiti,
which is preparing for elections in the autumn to replace its interim
government.
     Police officers, many wearing black masks over their faces, fired at
demonstrators during the march in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Renan
Etienne, central director for Haiti's administrative police, said "bandits"
had attacked a police patrol and that "the police returned fire."
     "We know that two bandits were killed, but we can't call them
demonstrators," Etienne said.
     Five bodies lay on the street, some with gunshot wounds in the back,
and at least three people were injured. No police were hurt, Etienne said.
     The shooting broke out just after the demonstrators passed a
headquarters building for the United Nations peacekeepers trying to
stabilize Haiti, which has been plagued by violence since former President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was driven out during a revolt 14 months ago.
     Several protesters and witnesses disputed the police account and said
police fired at them without provocation. One of the injured, 21-year-old
Romel Dorisma, said he had not taken part in the demonstration but was shot
by police as he walked out of a pharmacy.
     "I saw the police open fire. I got shot in the leg and I had to
crawl," said Dorisma, who hid under a wrecked car.
     A cameraman for a local television station said he saw police put a
gun beside one of the bodies and that police summoned him over afterward
and insisted that he film the gun.
     The demonstrators were calling for the return of Aristide, the release
of imprisoned members of his administration and an end to what they called
political persecution by the interim government.
     The crowd scattered when the shooting began but gunfire could still be
heard in the area two hours later.
     The clash came two days after Haitian election officials began
registering voters for Oct. 9 legislative polls and a Nov. 13 presidential
election.
     At least 675 people have been killed in gang and political violence
since September. A growing number of politicians and others involved in the
electoral process have expressed concern about precarious security in the
troubled Caribbean nation.