Anti-Aristide forces grow stronger

A REBEL force trying to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide grew in size as former exiled paramilitary troops joined the insurrection and aid workers hurried to get doctors and supplies to the cut-off north.

A humanitarian convoy was expected to leave yesterday from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, for St Marc, a northern port city where rebels burned the police station and torched a clinic. The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross would lead the convoy, officials said.

Rebel roadblocks have halted most food and fuel shipments since the unrest began. Emergency supplies of flour, cooking oil and other basics are projected to run out in days in northern areas, where roadblocks are guarded by rebels.