Haiti

2 killed in Haitian protest; Aristide to go to Jamaica

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A shootout between police and protesters killed two men and injured seven during a demonstration in support of Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Thursday as the exiled Haitian president planned a return to the Caribbean.

The violence erupted as hundreds of protesters marched through the Belair neighborhood of Port-au-Prince yelling: "Aristide has to come back! We don't want Bush as president!"

Shots were fired and some protesters pulled out pistols. Police fired tear gas, and a shootout between protesters and police ensued, witnesses said.

Two young men were killed, and seven were being treated for shotgun wounds, hospital officials said.

U.S. Marines, who are in Haiti to try to restore order, said they were patrolling near the protest but had nothing to do with the shootout.

Marines raided a house near the presidential palace before dawn Thursday in their first action of a new mission to disarm Haiti's many factions.

The search produced no weapons, but "The message out of this is, we are looking, and we will continue to do so," Col. Charles Gurganus said.

Aristide is in the Central African Republic, but he and his wife will fly to Jamaica, just 130 miles from Haiti, for a temporary stay early next week, Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said Thursday. There they will be reunited with their two young daughters, who were sent to New York before Aristide left Haiti on Feb. 29.

Aristide has said the United States forced him out of office and claims he is still Haiti's democratically elected leader.

Last week, a summit of the 15-nation Caribbean Community in Jamaica called for a U.N. investigation into Aristide's departure. That call was echoed Wednesday by the 53-nation African Union, which said his removal was "unconstitutional."

Patterson said Aristide would stay only eight to 10 weeks while he finalized plans for "permanent residence outside of the region."

In Port-au-Prince, opposition politician Paul Denis said Jamaica was "making matters worse."

"If Aristide intends to come back to Haiti, we'll be glad to receive him, so we can arrest him," he said.

The opposition wants Aristide to stand trial for corruption and the killings of opponents by armed gangs.

Aristide's lawyer in Paris said Wednesday he was considering bringing charges against the U.S. and French ambassadors to Haiti. Aristide says they told him there would be a bloodbath if he did not leave.

U.S. Ambassador James Foley told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday that Aristide "never once said that he didn't want to go."

"He never said: "I think you are wrong. I think your assessment is wrong. I'm going to stay. I'm going to ride it out,' " Foley said. "It was all about his departure."

Trying to bring stability, Haiti's new Prime Minister Gerard Latortue began choosing a Cabinet on Thursday.

Latortue, 69, a U.N. career officer and business consultant, said disarmament, reconciliation and elections are his priorities.

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