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> Gunmen kill 5 in attack on marchers in Haiti
> Marines fire back, their first foray in crisis that began in Aristide's final weeks in power
> Susan Milligan, Boston Globe
> Monday, March 8, 2004
> ©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ

> URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/a/2004/03/08/MNGNA5GC611.DTL

> Port-Au-Prince, Haiti -- Gunmen killed five people and injured more than 30 at a huge demonstration Sunday to celebrate the departure of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Marines stationed near the rally returned fire, believed to be the first U.S. military engagement in the current crisis.

> The killings marked a resurgence of the violence that gripped the capital during Aristide's last weeks in power, and damaged hopes for a peaceful transition to a new government.

> Tens of thousands of jubilant demonstrators had marched from the hilltop neighborhood of Petionville to the city center, singing and dancing in the oppressive heat to give thanks for what they said was the first time in years that they could march without fear of being attacked.

> Marines, who have been cruising the streets and patrolling by foot to bring calm in the capital, were posted along the parade route, at the National Palace, and near an intersection where another, competing demonstration by Aristide supporters was rumored to be coming.

> But as the first wave of Haitians who oppose Aristide began to disperse from outside the National Palace, a series of shots rang out, forcing thousands to flee. Two more bursts of gunfire followed, and within a half-hour, at least five people -- including a Spanish journalist -- were dead.

> More than 30 people, including Michael Laughlin, a photographer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and members of the Haitian special forces police, were injured in the spray of bullets, which witnesses said came from roof- level and street-level on a road where the demonstration passed.

> "Three Marines fired from the palace in the direction from which the shots were being fired," Marine Maj. Richard Crusan told the Associated Press.

> It was not known late Sunday who did the shooting, but demonstrators said they thought it was the militant pro-Aristide "chimeres," who are believed to be responsible for many of the killings that kept many capital residents hiding in their homes last month.

> One demonstrator, Jean-Guy Reynald, 37, said he saw several people lying on their stomachs on the north side of the demonstration route, an area that was a chimeres stronghold.

> Soon after, the first f shots were fired, and Reynald said he saw the foreign journalist hit, followed by two Haitian special forces police who went to help the journalist, Ricardo Ortega of Spain's broadcast network Antena 3.

> "I saw him falling down. I saw where he took the bullet," said Reynald.

> Another witness, 28-year-old student Valcin Ricardo, said gunmen got into a firefight with local police. A Marine was seen carrying a wounded person into the National Palace, where another U.S. soldier said many injured people were being taken.

> Marines cruised out of the presidential palace between the first and second rounds of shooting, drawing cheers from the crowd. But the soldiers did not go to the site of the killings until after the third bout of gunfire, and the demonstrators quickly turned on the Marines in frustration and anger. Some said the country needed Guy Philippe, the rebel leader who has yet to fulfill a pledge to disband his forces and disarm, to keep security in Port-au-Prince.

> "The Americans have to take responsibility because the chimeres are still shooting at us," said a young Haitian man who asked not to be named. "If the Americans won't take their responsibility, then re-arm Guy Philippe so he can take care of the chimeres."

> Philippe and Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a high-ranking member of Philippe's group, cruised through the packed demonstration on small floats, dressed in civilian clothes and signing autographs. A few hoisted Philippe in the air in jubilation.

> Philippe appointed himself leader early last week of the armed forces and had his force patrol the restless city.

> Later in the week, under heavy U.S. pressure, Philippe agreed to lay down his arms, but U.S. military officials say he has yet to do so. No weapons were visible, however, among either the anti-Aristide demonstrators or the rebels.

> Sunday's killings marked a new and violent turn in the country's efforts to establish an interim government. Negotiations hosted by the Organization of American States have led to the appointment of a seven-member Council of Sages that is supposed to propose a new prime minister for Haiti.

> The capital also gradually moved toward normalcy last week, with banks and shops reopening and many residents coming out of their houses for the first time in almost a month.

> Sunday's rally was meant to celebrate what Haitians who oppose Aristide say is a new freedom in the country, and to call for a new government and a new army.

> French forces in riot gear joined Haitian law enforcement to monitor the march, because a scheduled counter-rally by Aristide supporters suggested that a confrontation might occur, but the nearly four-hour trek up and down the hilly, winding roads of the capital was largely peaceful.

> When rally participants reached the palace, hugging and dancing, water was sprayed from fire trucks onto the masses to ease the heat. It seemed that Haiti would mark a new chapter in displays of popular democracy, but in the early afternoon, the mood began to change. Demonstrators raced angrily across the Champs de Mars, a downtown square, to capture a yellow-shirted man they said was part of the chimeres.

> A few participants of the rally protected the man from threatened attacks by other demonstrators, then turned him over to police, saying, "We want to do it the right way."

> Minutes later, the first shots rang out, and the crowd exploded in fear, anger, and grief. A small crowd gathered around the body of a dead man, bleeding from the head, who had been dragged down the street from the cinema where at least some of the shootings occurred.

> Another body lay by the Champs de Mars, steps from the National Palace, and an official at a Canape Vert Hospital -- heavily guarded by French troops -- said two more victims had died there, including Ortega.

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