Haiti tensions rise over food shortages

HAITI remained tense yesterday as Europe considered sending aid and the Red Cross and UN warned the chaos in the Caribbean country was threatening hospitals and causing food shortages.

Rebels with the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front, who have occupied this north-western city since February 5, along with several other cities, insisted they had the means to put down any police attempts to retake the city.

"Any police operation will be pushed back because we have the means, the desire and the conviction to do so," group spokesman Winter Etienne said.

He said he was waiting for forces to free Saint Marc and Cap Haitien. Saint Marc had been under rebel control but was reclaimed by police on Monday.

Etienne said forces from the Organisation of American States would be permitted to enter Gonaives, "but not Haitian police". And if US troops were to show up to help keep President Jean Bertrand Aristide in power, he warned "we would take down the Haitian flag here and raise the Cuban flag".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said medical facilities were under growing threat from incursions by armed groups.

"The ICRC is particularly concerned about repeated cases of armed persons entering medical facilities," the agency said.

About 50 people have been killed in clashes been government and opposition supporters over the past week while armed rebel groups have taken over several towns in the country.

UN aid agencies yesterday appealed for swift access from the capital to the north, around Gonaives, Cap Haitien, Port de Paix and Fort Liberte, where the violence has prevented food convoys from reaching the population.

Meanwhile, the European Commission expressed concern about the growing violence. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States, Canada and the 15-nation Caribbean Community would hold talks on the unrest Friday in Washington.

The situation in the capital was calm yesterday, but traffic was still snarled around the barricades thrown up by members of the ruling Lavalas party.