US Marines kill two in firefight in Haitian capital

by Patrick Moser

Sunday, March 14, 2004

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): US Marines killed two Haitians in a firefight near the presidential palace in violence-torn Port-au-Prince ahead of a planned visit here Saturday by the top US military officer.

A military spokesman said the Marines had returned fire after coming under attack Friday night in the Bel Air neighborhood, a stronghold of hardcore supporters of ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

"Multiple gunmen" shot at the Marines at 9 pm (0200 GMT) Friday about one kilometer (0.6 mile) north of the palace, said US army Major Richard Crusan.

"The Marines returned fire and reported two gunmen killed in the engagement," he said.

He said the Marines again came under fire later in the evening but reported no further casualties.

Marines have been involved in several gun battles in the capital, killing four Haitians.

The latest incident came before General Richard Myers, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was expected to arrive Saturday.

Myers will become the most senior US official to travel to Haiti during the current crisis. He was expected to remain in the capital about two and one-half hours, and to be whisked off by military helicopter to visit troops.

The capital erupted in violence after Aristide resigned and fled the country on February 29.

Myers was to meet with members of the 2,600-strong US-led multinational force deployed only hours after Aristide left Haiti with US and French assistance.

The air force general was also due to hold meetings with Haitian officials, including police chief Leon Charles, whose force has been working closely with the US, French, Chilean and Canadian troops currently in the Caribbean nation.

The troops are struggling to restore stability in Haiti, and particularly Port-au-Prince, which has suffered almost daily unrest since Aristide's departure.

Military officials declined, for security reasons, to give details of the US general's agenda and it was not immediately clear whether he planned to meet interim president Boniface Alexandre or newly named Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.

Latortue, who was appointed Tuesday and sworn in Friday, was working on forming a government of national unity, which he hoped to have ready by Monday. 

"This country cannot continue to wait, the void has lasted too long. We must get to work as soon as possible," Latortue said on Friday.

Latortue on Friday held talks with members of Aristide's Lavalas party, as well as opposition members, in a bid to end a political crisis stemming from fraudulent legislative elections in 2000.

A top Lavalas official emerged from the talks calling for efforts to "save the country." 

"Whatever we do must be done by dialogue and reconciliation," said Senate President Yvon Feuille, a longtime Aristide ally.

Latortue said he would travel to other cities to "reassure" people, especially in the northwestern town of Gonaives, his hometown where rebels on February 5 launched an uprising that played a key role in getting Aristide to leave the country.

After swearing in Latortue at the presidential palace, Alexandre denounced "the passion, the hatred, the vengeance and the corruption at the highest levels of the government" Aristide had led.

Aristide's claim that he remains the constitutional president of Haiti could complicate the formation of a national unity government since his supporters essentially would have to recognize the legitimacy of the interim president.

But Feuille showed willingness to compromise, saying that in Aristide's absence from the country, an interim president was needed.

Aristide's plan to travel to neighboring Jamaica from his current exile in the Central African Republic has also raised tensions, since the trip would bring him close to home.

US officials and Latortue expressed concern over the invitation extended by Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson, who was expected in Bangui Sunday to escort Aristide on a trip Patterson insists will be brief.

Latortue said no decision had yet been reached as to where Aristide would eventually settle.

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