9994: Haiti-Palace Shooting (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

                         Haiti-Palace Shooting


   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 17 (AP) -- A small group of heavily armed men broke
into the National Palace and opened fire early Monday, the minister of
culture and communication said.
   Minister Guy Paul said he did not know if anyone was injured in the
break-in and shooting, which occurred around 2 a.m. Monday. He said he did
not know the motive.
   Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife were unharmed, and
sleeping at their suburban Tabarre home, Paul said.
   The National Palace, a presidential mansion downtown, is protected by
hundreds of guards.
   A government communique that aired early Monday on Radio Caraibes called
on Haitians to "block the way, on top and at the bottom" to anyone who
wants to destabilize the government.