Military

DATE=10/11/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=HAITI / VIOLENCE (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-319600

BYLINE=AMELIA SHAW

DATELINE=PORT-AU-PRINCE

HEADLINE: Gunfights Break Out in the Haitian Capital

INTRO: In Haiti, armed gangs loyal to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide took to the streets on Monday, looting shops and burning cars. Two people died in gunfights. From Port-au-Prince, Amelia Shaw reports UN troops and national police are struggling to restore order throughout the Haitian capital.

TEXT: Heavy gunfire was heard throughout the city Monday, as Brazilian troops

and Haitian police patrolled the downtown area in armored vehicles, trading fire

with gunmen hiding in alleyways.

The newest wave of violence in the Haitian capital began on September 30th,

when Mr. Aristide's supporters mounted violent protests over his ouster. On Saturday, a Brazilian peacekeeper was shot and slightly wounded in a downtown slum.

Local officials have criticized the U.N. peacekeeping mission, saying it has

not done enough to stem the violence. But U.N. spokesman Damien Cardona

insists that the Haitian government, and not the peacekeepers, are primarily

responsible for restoring order.

/// CARDONA ACT ///

"The (U.N.) troops, they are not occupation forces, they do not have the mandate to

arrest people, to be the police of this country, they are here to support

the Haitian government and the police. So the leading actor, the one that

does the arrests, (the one) that has to lead the country, and really knows the

country is the local government, the national government and the national

police."

/// END ACT ///

Over the past week, clashes between police and criminal gangs have killed 45

people. Six people have been beheaded, three of them police officers.

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has blamed the beheadings on

Aristides supporters, saying they are behind a campaign known as Operation

Baghdad.

Yet Aristide supporters say that police and anti-Aristide gunmen are responsible for

the violence, and criticize the Haitian government for not disarming the

rebels who ousted Mr. Aristide in late February.

The U.S. State Department issued a new travel warning Friday, advising

Americans against travel to Haiti except for emergency reasons. (SIGNED)

NEB/AS/KL