Three wounded as Haiti tensions mount

Thursday, December 18, 2003

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Supporters of Haiti's President Jean Bertrand Aristide shot and wounded three students Wednesday as police used tear gas to halt student demonstrations against the president, witnesses said Wednesday.

Tensions have mounted in the western hemisphere's poorest country as protests against Aristide have increased in recent weeks.

The students were wounded in the latest in a series of demonstrations in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The witnesses said the Aristide supporters were armed with revolvers, highlighting the degenerating conditions.

The United States this week accused the Haitian government of violently suppressing peaceful political demonstrations by paying "armed thugs" to crack down on crowds protesting Aristide's rule.

Aristide, a former priest, was re-elected president in 2001 for a five-year term. But opponents have accused him of misrule and corruption and demanded he step down.

Anti-riot police stopped three student demonstrations against the government from going ahead in the capital. An AFP correspondent saw at least seven students being arrested.

Reports said there were also demonstrations in Jacmel in the southeast, at St Marc north of the capital and in the northwestern town of Gonaives.

During the night, machine guns were fired at three petrol stations in Port-au-Prince. Leaflets were left across the city threatening business owners who supported an opposition strike on Tuesday.

He first came to power in 1991 but was ousted in a military coup. The United States intervened militarily in 1994 to help him return to office. 

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