29298: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Lawless Slum (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 3 (AP) -- Police entered Haiti's worst slum for the
first time in nearly three years on Tuesday, strolling past bullet-scarred
buildings and shaking hands with onlookers in a goodwill visit aimed at
restoring order in the gang-controlled area.
   The hour-long tour of Cite Soleil was the latest sign of easing tension
between President Rene Preval's new government and gang members blamed for
a wave of violence that threatens to destabilize the impoverished Caribbean
nation.
   Hundreds of people cheered as dozens of heavily armed police walked
through the lawless slum, not far from the bullet-riddled shell of the
area's old police station -- destroyed during a February 2004 revolt that
toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   Smiling and waving, the police chatted with residents and visited a U.N.
military base that has served as the slum's only authority since the
revolt.
   "The people of Cite Soleil have been waiting a long time for police to
have a presence in the community. It's a very happy day," police inspector
general Jean Saint-Fleur said as U.N. troops atop armored cars kept guard,
their rifles trained down dirt alleys.
   Saint-Fleur called the police visit "the first steps" at reopening a
base in Cite Soleil but declined to say when that would happen.
   Many Haitians said they couldn't remember the last time they saw police
inside the staunchly pro-Aristide slum, a warren of scrap metal shacks
where clashes between militants and U.N. troops are common.
   Haitian police were accused of summary executions and arbitrary arrests
of pro-Aristide slum dwellers during the 2004-2006 rule of a U.S.-backed
interim government.
   "We welcome the police back. Maybe now we'll have peace in Cite Soleil,"
said Gillen Jean, a 26-year-old fruit vendor.
   Only a few months ago, the visit would have provoked a clash with area
gang leaders accused in scores of kidnappings and killings since the
revolt. In May, two policemen were shot to death and their bodies burned
after chasing a suspect into the slum's outskirts.
   The government recently began negotiating with gang members in Cite
Soleil to persuade them to lay down their arms and dozens have so far
agreed. The talks came after Preval warned gangsters in August to disarm or
face death.
   Jean Yves Laguerre, a Cite Soleil community leader, said the visit
should improve life in the area.
   "Now the police and the people can work together, and those of us who
want to leave Cite Soleil can," Laguerre said, describing the slum as "a
prison."