Disorder reigns as rebels rampage in Haiti

Hundreds of Haitians looted TV sets, mattresses and sacks of flour from shipping containers in the port town of St Marc, one of several communities seized by rebels in a bloody uprising against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Using felled trees, burning tyres and old cars, residents blocked streets throughout St Marc, a day after militants drove out police in gunbattles that killed two people.

Many residents have formed neighbourhood groups to back insurgents in their push to expel the president.

“After Aristide leaves, the country will return to normal,” said Axel Philippe, 34, among dozens massed on the highway leading to St Marc, a city of about 100,000 some 45 miles northwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

At least 18 people have been killed since armed opponents of Aristide began their assault on Thursday, setting police stations on fire and driving officers from the northwestern city of Gonaives – Haiti’s fourth-largest city – and several smaller nearby towns.

Anger has been brewing in Haiti since Aristide’s party won flawed legislative elections in 2000.

The opposition refuses to join in any new vote unless the president resigns.

Clashes between government opponents, police and Aristide supporters have killed at least 69 people since mid-September.

In the bloodiest fights of recent days, 150 police tried to retake control of Gonaives on Saturday but left hours later after a series of gunbattles, witnesses said.

At least nine people were killed, seven of them police, in gunbattles with rebels hiding on side streets and crouched in doorways.