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Looting Breaks Out In Haiti's
Second Largest City

2-11-4



HAITI's second-largest city remained without power Wednesday after a food depot was looted and torched in the latest troubles to hit the stricken Caribbean republic, reporters said.
 
Tensions spilled over in several towns as the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide struggled to win back control of towns taken over by armed rebels.
 
Two more killings were reported in Saint Marc, raising the death toll since last Thursday to at least 44.
 
The population of the northern city of Cap-Haitien, the country's second biggest, was without power amid increasing fears that groups who support the president would retaliate if rebels tried to take over the city.
 
The United States said Wednesday it was "extremely concerned" about Haiti's mounting troubles.
 
"We are extremely concerned about the wave of violence sweeping through Haiti, and we certainly deeply regret the loss of life," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday said the United States had no plans to send US troops to restore order in the troubled country.
 
A food storage depot in Cap-Haitien was looted and burned down during the night and businesses were badly hit by the tense atmosphere on Wednesday, a local journalist told AFP.
 
Many lottery stands and restaurants owned by people believed to oppose Aristide have been burned down in recent days.
 
"We call on the government to respect the rights, especially human rights, of the citizens and residents of Haiti," McClellan said.
 
Two people accused of being members of the opposition were burned alive in their homes Wednesday night in Saint Marc, according to a local journalist. The killings were apparently in retaliation for the torching of a clinic run by a doctor whose brother is in the pro-Aristide camp, according to the journalist.
 
Saint Marc is one of three cities police took back on Monday from rebels who have claimed control of a dozen towns since last Thursday.
 
Shots were heard in a Saint Marc neighborhood controlled by Ramicos, an armed opposition group.
 
Several police stations have been destroyed since opponents of Aristide stepped up their protests.
 
The main police station in Limbe, just south of Cap-Haitien, was abandoned on Monday night before it was burned down by an armed group, a journalist said.
 
Rebels calling themselves the National Reconstruction and Liberation Front said they were determined to fight to "liberate" the whole country.
 
"The Haitian revolution is on the march," rebel spokesman Winter Etienne said in a statement. "We have decided to no longer live in despair. We will regain our hope for the future."
 
Aristide, who has vowed to stay in office until his term ends in 2006, has been ruling by decree after failed elections last year left Haiti without a functioning legislature.
 
The populist priest turned president has promised polls within six months but has not set a date.
 
Aristide has accused the opposition political groups of favoring a coup d'etat against him, but opposition parties distanced themselves from the armed opposition.
 
"We distinguish the popular movement we support demanding the departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from armed rebels with whom we do not identify ourselves," socialist Micha Gaillard, a prominent opposition political figure, told AFP.
 
International calls for peace continued as France called for an "immediate end to violence."
 
The United Nations warned that Haiti faced a "major humanitarian crisis," as the United States and Canada told their citizens to leave the country.
 
The Organization of American States and the 15-nation Caribbean Community have been trying to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
 
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040211/1/3hxr3.html


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