[A-List] Haiti: Marine First US Casualty, Aristide Returns To The Caribbean

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/americas/16HAIT.html

New York Times
March 15, 2004


U.S. Marine Wounded in Haiti; Aristide Arrives in
Jamaica
By KIRK SEMPLE and LYDIA POLGREEN


-Haiti's new prime minister, Gérard Latortue [recently
transplanted from Florida, much as 'Iraqi' leader
Ahmad Chalabi and Afghan 'president' Hamid Karzai have
left the fleshpots of Egypt to rule their countries of
origin on behalf of the Imperium] has condemned Mr.
Aristide's visit to Jamaica and told reporters in
Port-au-Prince that he would suspend diplomatic
relations with Jamaica and recall Haiti's ambassador
to Kingston.



ORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 15 ? A United States
marine was shot and wounded by snipers during a patrol
on Sunday night in a poor neighborhood of this teeming
city, becoming the first American military casualty
here since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, a military spokesman said Monday.

Meanwhile, Mr. Aristide arrived in Kingston, Jamaica,
at about 1:45 p.m. after an overnight flight on a
chartered jet from the Central African Republic, where
he had taken refuge after his departure from Haiti on
Feb. 29. Mr. Aristide's spokesman in Jamaica, Huntley
Medley, said Mr. Aristide thanked the Jamaican
government and people for allowing him to come for a
visit. Mr. Aristide is expected to remain several
weeks, and will be reunited with his two young
daughters, whom he sent to the United States when
Haiti's situation began to deteriorate.

Officials in Jamaica have said Mr. Aristide must not
use his visit to their country, about 100 miles from
Haiti, to foment unrest in Haiti, which is just
beginning to stabilize after the monthlong uprising
that forced Mr. Aristide from power [sic]. Haiti's new
prime minister, Gérard Latortue, has condemned Mr.
Aristide's visit to Jamaica and told reporters in
Port-au-Prince that he would suspend diplomatic
relations with Jamaica and recall Haiti's ambassador
to Kingston.

The wounded marine, who was hit in the arm, was among
a detachment of soldiers patrolling a neighborhood
near the presidential palace on Sunday night, said the
military spokesman, Lt. Col. David A. Lapan. The
marine, Pfc. Howard W. Hamilton, 20, from
Murfreesboro, Tenn., was evacuated to a hospital in
Miami, where he was in stable condition, Colonel Lapan
said. The soldiers returned fire but did not know if
they had inflicted any casualties, the spokesman said.

Members of the American military deployment, which
with about 1,700 troops is the largest division of a
four-nation military task force, have been fired at
many times since arriving after Mr. Aristide's flight
into exile under pressure from Haitian rebels and the
French and American governments.

At least four Haitian gunmen have died in firefights
with the Americans, the American military said. A
fifth Haitian was killed when he tried to run a
military roadblock in a car, the military said.

American officials say that disarming militants from
all factions is a cornerstone of their mission in
Haiti. Some experts estimate that there are many
thousands of illegal weapons, with a majority in
Port-au-Prince and other cities.

So far, however, American troops have confiscated only
four weapons, and they have conducted only one
deliberate disarmament mission ? a raid on a suspected
arms cache ? but found nothing. The Chilean troops
have confiscated three rifles they found in a shack
near their installation on the grounds of a university
campus here, said Gonzalo Vega, a spokesman for the
Chilean contingent.

The French troops have said their mission would not
include disarmament, said Maj. Xavier Pons, spokesman
for the French contingent. Kiersten Leus, a
spokeswoman for Canada's military, said its mission
would be fully defined next week when the complete
force of about 450 people is to become operational.

Kirk Semple reported from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for
this article and Lydia Polgreen from Kingston,
Jamaica.






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