Armed ex-soldiers plan to stop Haiti violence

[seemslikeadream]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former soldiers who ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a revolt said Wednesday that reinforcements are advancing on Haiti's capital to stop violence that has killed at least 46 people.
The reported movement of these forces threatens conflict with armed Aristide loyalists who remain in Port-Au-Prince and United Nations peacekeepers deployed after Aristide was ousted in February.

The country already has been roiled by two weeks of gunbattles and beheadings. The new conflict broke out after Tropical Storm Jeanne devastated the island, leaving up to 3,000 people dead.

In the storm-ravaged city of Gonaives, in northwest Haiti, Red Cross officers suspended operations after a French Red Cross truck was held up at gunpoint Tuesday and looted of cooking and hygiene supplies, said the society's Haiti mission director, Marie-Helene Meaux. She said Red Cross workers from several countries had stopped work in the city.

more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-10-13-haiti_x.htm

[seemslikeadream]

1. More

A rebel commander said his men were tired of waiting for United Nations or Haitian forces to stop the unrest.



Supporters of Mr Aristide, who are demanding the release of pro-Aristide politicians, have threatened to step up a wave of protests.

More than 40 people have been killed in violence in the past two weeks.

The violence began at a rally of pro-Aristide supporters on 30 September.

Police reportedly shot and killed two protesters. The following day the bodies of three police officers were found beheaded.

In the last week, five more decapitated bodies have been discovered in the capital.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3741490.stm


Haiti: Recent violence kills nearly 50

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Recent outbreaks of violence in the Haitian capital and elsewhere have claimed nearly 50 lives in recent weeks, Haitian radio reported Wednesday.

Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have been staging violent protests and killing detractors and policemen -- sometimes beheading them -- while calling for his return. Aristide left Haiti at the end of February amid increasing pressure from armed rebel groups and fighting that left some 200 people dead. He is currently in exile in South Africa.

The fighting is also preventing relief agencies from sending much needed supplies to the flood-ravaged northern city of Gonaives, where some 2,000 people were killed.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher Tuesday criticized Aristide for not doing enough to control the anti-government violence that began Sept. 30.
more
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041013-070015-1146r.htm


Aristide supporters continue demonstrations in Haiti
Last Updated Tue, 12 Oct 2004 19:18:13 EDT
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI - Five police officers were buried Tuesday in Haiti, but clashes between police and supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide continue.

Forty-six people have died in the recent violence, 17 of them in the past week.

Food distribution by humanitarian organizations trying to help flood victims in the northern city of Gonaives was suspended because of the security situation.

Access to the docks in Port-au-Prince has also been blocked, cutting off shipments from the UN World Food Program.

The Aristide supporters are calling for his return to Haiti and an end to what they call the invasion of the country by foreign troops.
more
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/10/12/haiti041012.html

Haiti: Three people die in demonstration calling for Aristide's return

www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-13 04:31:09

HAVANA, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Three people died in a demonstration staged Tuesday in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, carried out by people calling for the return of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

According to reports received in Havana, the fatalities occurred when the police opened fire to contain the demonstrators.

The demonstrators demanded the resignation of acting Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who counts with the support of the governments of the United States and France.

The Latortue administration was set up after a coup d'Etat staged against Aristide this year in February.

With these three dead, there are now over 20 fatalities among the opposition produced in clashes with the new government since September. Enditem
more
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/13/content_2083567.htm


2 UN Peacekeepers Shot in Haiti
VOA News
11 Oct 2004, 11:50 UTC

Officials in Haiti say two soldiers with the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Caribbean country have been shot and wounded in separate incidents.
Authorities say an Argentine soldier was hit by gunfire Saturday night in the northern city of Gonaives, hours after a Brazilian soldier was shot in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Last week, the U.S. State Department warned Americans against traveling to Haiti, saying the security situation there "remains unpredictable and dangerous."
more
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=3A44AD89-4308-4549-B82F6BC7AF345409&title=2%20UN%20Peacekeepers%20Shot%20in%20Haiti&catOID=45C9C78A-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Americas