Gangs, Looters Roam Haiti's Capital

[Chicago Democrat]

Gangs, Looters Roam Haiti's Capital
City Tense as Rebels Approach
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, February 28, 2004; Page A01


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 27 -- Armed pro-government gangs roamed the streets of this capital on Friday, and thugs looted businesses and hijacked cars, forcing residents to stay in their homes in anticipation of a threatened assault by rebels who have vowed to capture or kill President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.




There was a marked deterioration of security throughout the city of about 1.3 million people, three weeks into an armed insurgency that reportedly was moving toward the capital. In Washington, the Pentagon was considering sending 2,200 U.S. Marines to stand by off the coast as a precaution, officials said. The U.S. government sent 50 Marines earlier this week to protect the U.S. Embassy and its staff.

In a sharp escalation of diplomatic language by the U.S. government, the U.S. Embassy here issued a statement Friday night saying that armed groups had "begun to burn, pillage and kill" and "are spreading terror and attacking civilians and the general population and are acting in the name of Jean-Bertrand Aristide." The statement called on him to "stop this blind violence."

"Mr. Aristide must understand that his honor, legacy and reputation are now at stake," said the statement, which also issued "an equally urgent appeal" to the rebels to stop their armed advance on the capital. Both the rebels, who include former death-squad and military members, and their civilian opponents accuse Aristide of abandoning his promises to help the poor. They also charge that he has profited from international drug-trafficking and has enforced his will by arming gangs who terrorize and kill his opponents.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13184-2004Feb27.html