Former Haitian exile Gerard Latortue has been sworn in as the country’s prime minister, promising to unite the country after months of bloodshed and political strife that led to the ousting of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

A US-backed advisory council picked Gerard Latortue, a former UN official and business consultant as Haiti’s new prime minister, a step toward forming a transitional government and organising elections in the troubled nation.

BEFORE a raging fire, rebel fighters in this bleak western town offered metal scraps to a voodoo war god, portending still more violence for Haiti.

SUPPORTERS of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide criticised the foreign occupation of their country yesterday as Haitian officials began to patch together a new government.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide today left Haiti bowing to pressure from a rebellion at home and diplomats from abroad, his Cabinet minister and close adviser Leslie Voltaire told The Associated Press.