18475: (Chamberlain) Haitian rebels defiant in slum city stronghold (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie

    GONAIVES, Haiti, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Pigs root through rotting garbage
in the streets, fuel must be siphoned from underground tanks in a
burned-out gas station, and at any time, police are expected to launch an
attack on Haiti's "independent city" of Gonaives.
     The heartland of an armed revolt threatening the presidency of
Jean-Bertrand Aristide has long been a dirt-poor slum city, wracked by
violence, in this country where one-third of the population cannot find
enough to eat.
     Since an armed gang that once supported the president attacked
Gonaives' police station and took control Thursday, the dilapidated
historical city where Haiti declared independence in 1804 has taken on the
look of a war zone.
     The streets are strewn with rubble and refuse. Open sewers line the
shuttered shops.
     Across from the ruined police station, dozens of residents sucked fuel
from the underground tanks of a burned-out gasoline station on Wednesday to
feed a swarm of mopeds that provide the main form of motorized transport.
     Heavily armed rebels wearing stolen police helmets and flak jackets
patrol in four-wheel-drive vehicles seized from police when the authorities
failed to restore order on Saturday.
     Barricades of rusty cars, trees, boulders and the occasional burning
tire block entry to many streets.
     Bandoliers of bullets slung over their torsos, the rebel soldiers say
they will crush any new attack.
     Paulda Petitmeme, a former Aristide supporter, said he would defend
Gonaives "to the death." Petitmeme said he swore allegiance to the rebels
when they freed him from prison.
     As police and government supporters fight back, the revolt seems to be
running out of steam in other parts of the Caribbean country.
     An air of tension hangs over the last major rebel redoubt.
     "Are the police coming?" several people asked. Residents scattered in
panic when a convoy of reporters in SUVs similar to police vehicles
arrived.
     Rebel leader Buter Metayer said the "Resistance Front of Gonaives" had
established a 40-member police force and appointed a mayor.
     "We want to manage the city of Gonaives well, not like the false
police of Aristide," a beaming Metayer told Reuters as he celebrated his
33rd birthday on Wednesday. "There's no place in the country that has as
much security now."
     Metayer promised his gunmen would hand over their weapons to the
international community if Aristide resigned.
     About 40 have been killed in the violence, which erupted after months
of almost daily protests against Aristide by his political opponents in
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.