26867: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Protesters Shot (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 12 (AP) -- Protesters angry over the treatment of
Haitian migrants in neighboring Dominican Republic clashed with police
during a visit by the Dominican president, and at least three people were
wounded by gunshots.
   Haitian police fired automatic weapons in the air as hundreds of
demonstrators threw rocks and burned tires outside the presidential palace,
seeking to block the motorcade of Dominican President Leonel Fernandez as
he left a meeting with Haiti's interim prime minister and president.
   Later, three university students who said they were part of the protest
arrived at the General Hospital, next to the presidential palace, with
gunshot wounds. One man had a bullet wound to the head, another was shot in
the thigh and the third had a bullet wound to the lower leg.
   It could not be confirmed who shot the three, who were accompanied by
dozens of other students who said they took part in the protest and
corroborated their account.
   U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said U.N. riot police were at the
demonstration but only Haitian forces and the bodyguards of the Dominican
president fired shots.
   About a million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, which has a
population of 8.8 million. Many are illegal residents; others face
discrimination and are sometimes deported.