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Four wounded as protesters clash with Haiti police

Two hooded sympathizers of former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide stand behind a barricade in front of a mural that says ``justice'' in the Bel Air district of Port-Au-Prince on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

At least four people were wounded by gunshots on Thursday as police clashed with supporters of Haitian ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide after security forces dispersed demonstrators outside the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince.

Heavy gunfire was heard late in the evening near the center of the capital, and there were unconfirmed reports that two people had been killed in the central market street Grand Rue.

"We have treated four people for bullet wounds. Other hospitals probably have more," said Frandze Augustin Charlier, a doctor at the Canape Vert Hospital in the Haitian capital.

"There was shooting in all directions," said Rodson Josselin, whose 54-year-old-mother suffered bullet wounds to the head and the right arm. He said his mother, a storeowner in the Grand Rue, was not involved in the protest.

He said several by-standers were caught in the crossfire between security forces and members of the pro-Aristide "People's Organizations," known as OPs.

Several people in the Grand Rue said two people had been shot dead and that the bodies had been removed, though there was no immediate confirmation of the claim.

This happened as Aristide supporters went on a rampage in the city center, hurling rocks at cars and setting up burning barricades, after police used teargas to disperse them as they protested outside the palace following a two-hour march through nearby slums.

One woman was given first aid by demonstrators in a street near the palace after being shot in the right arm.

"I was shot by the police," Nadia Joseph, 19, told AFP, as a motorist took her to a hospital.

"I was in the demonstration when I was shot," Joseph said.

At least two bursts of automatic weapons fire and isolated gunshots could be heard as the demonstrators scattered.

After the protesters left, two French military trucks briefly moved into position outside the palace.

Earlier in the day, newly-named Prime Minister Gerard Latortue had a first meeting with Boniface Alexandre, who was sworn in as interim president hours after Aristide resigned and fled to the Central African Republic on Feb. 29.

"We are on the same wavelength, we will work together toward national reconciliation," said Latortue, 69, who returned from Miami on Wednesday and is expected to announce a new government on Saturday.
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