Haiti's Interim Leader Praises Uprising
Saturday March 20, 2004 8:46 PM
By PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press Writer
GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) - Sharing a platform with rebel leaders, Haiti's interim leader Saturday praised the gunmen who began the uprising that chased Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power and even paid tribute to an assassinated gangster...
Metayer's Cannibal Army gang ran the docks at Gonaives and was said to control drug-trafficking through the port. The gang also was believed to have been armed by Aristide to terrorize his opponents..
Aristide finally had Metayer arrested last year after months of pressure from the OAS, which demanded he be tried for allegedly burning homes of opponents. Gang members rammed a tractor into the prison to free him in September, and Metayer's bullet-riddled and mutilated body was found days later.
``Obviously we have weapons spread throughout the country, and many people still believe they can't give (up) all of their weapons,'' he told the AP. ``But the symbolism of what happened today is very important.''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3884424,00.html