- PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Haiti was
facing renewed violence yesterday, with United States troops struggling
to prevent more bloodshed as rival groups clashed following the departure
of the president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
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- Armed rebels began hunting for Haitian officials, and
Aristide loyalists and gun battles were reported in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
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- Rebel attempts to arrest the prime minister, Yvon Neptune,
were headed off by US marines on Tuesday but with government ministers
in hiding and no president at the palace, Mr Neptune was struggling to
hang on to power.
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- "There is no legislature. The ministers are in hiding.
I am in my office but my latitude to function is severely curtailed,"
he said. The US is working with some prominent Haitians to build a new
administration.
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- Mr Neptune's comments reflected chaos three days after
Mr Aristide was driven out by rebels, who seized the initiative on the
city's decrepit streets in defiance of US demands to disband and disarm.
-
- Marines last night reportedly blocked rebels hunting
for Haitian officials at the capital's airport, the first time US forces
stepped in to stem the bloodshed in Haiti.
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- Earlier, a gun battle erupted between rebels and Aristide
loyalists in Les Salines, a seaside slum. There was no sign of US or French
troops in the sprawling neighbourhood, a stronghold of Aristide militants.
-
- Rebels and Aristide militants also fought a gun battle
at the city's seaport, which has been looted over the past few days. Casualty
figures were not immediately available but some reports suggested up to
130 people had died since Sunday.
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- Haiti's political opposition yesterday met with the interim
president, Boniface Alexandre, to demand he name a new prime minister.
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- As rebels roamed the streets, some with assault rifles,
US forces in Haiti abruptly expanded their mission to protect Haitian civilians
from reprisal attacks. Previously they said they were there only to protect
US citizens and interests.
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- The rebel leader, Guy Philippe, who declared himself
"the military chief" on Tuesday, was yesterday seen entering
the residence of the US ambassador, James Foley. It was not immediately
clear if Mr Philippe met Mr Foley.
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- After 15-20 minutes the rebels emerged and left without
comment. The US Embassy also would not comment.
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- Colonel Dave Berger said the US marines, who began arriving
on Sunday night hours after Mr Aristide fled to Africa, will increase their
presence throughout Haiti.
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- US and French troops in Haiti, the vanguard of an international
peacekeeping force authorised by the UN Security Council, have no orders
to disarm Haiti's factions. Col Berger and the commander of the French
forces said: "We are not a police force."
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- Chile said it was sending 120 special forces troops to
Haiti yesterday, the first of about 300, while France said it would have
some 420 soldiers and police in place by the end of the week.
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- In Washington, the assistant US secretary of state, Roger
Noriega, said Mr Philippe had no real power even as his rebels sought to
take advantage of the political chaos.
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- US marines had not begun street patrols of the capital
yesterday despite a pledge to increase their presence after Mr Philippe's
men spread out in Port-au-Prince and started frisking people for weapons.
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- "We have not been missioned to patrol as yet,"
marine Staff Sergeant Timothy Edwards said in a briefing at the airport,
where marines slept in tents or in the open air on the tarmac.
-
- Despite the confusion, Port-au-Prince was calmer yesterday
after days of violence and looting. A Dutch Caribbean commercial airliner
and a plane carrying relief supplies landed at the airport, a sign things
were returning to normal.
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- US officials said "friction points" had developed
between the foreign forces and rebels.
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- The rebels were still celebrating their victory over
Mr Aristide, whom they accused of human rights violations and corruption.
Accompanied by prostitutes, about 50 rebels drank heavily in a luxury hotel
late on Tuesday, guns lying on tables or at their sides.
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- Mr Philippe's table ordered three bottles of £50-a-bottle
champagne, which hotel sources said it failed to pay for.
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- ©2004 Scotsman.com
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- http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=252862004
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