Aristide Arrives in Jamaica, Haiti Incensed
By
Ibon Villelabeitia and Horace Helps
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti/KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to the Caribbean on Monday for the first time since his ouster as Haiti's president, enraging the new Haitian government with a visit to neighboring Jamaica that fanned fears of more bloodshed.
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"It's very unfriendly on the part of Jamaica. We cannot accept this," new Prime Minister Gerard Latortue told Reuters Television.
He said he would recall Haiti's ambassador to Kingston.
It was unclear, however, whether the diplomatic stab at Jamaica would have any practical implications. All Haitian ambassadors were told last week they were being recalled after Aristide's departure on Feb. 29 for exile in Africa.
U.S. troops leading a 2,650-strong peace force in Haiti suffered their first casualty when a Marine was shot on Sunday night in the Port-au-Prince shantytown of Belair, where Aristide still enjoys fervent support.
Aristide, a former slum priest driven out by a monthlong rebellion and U.S. pressure, landed in Jamaica with his Haitian-American wife Mildred after flying halfway around the world from Africa in a jet chartered by supporters.
Aristide then left by helicopter for an undisclosed location. A source in the village of Lydford in northeast Jamaica, about 70 miles from the capital, told Reuters two helicopters landed near a government-owned guest house there.
Amy Goodman, a radio show presenter for the "Democracy Now!" program, who traveled with the delegation, told CNN that Haiti's first democratically elected leader again insisted he had been ousted in a U.S. "coup."
Washington has dismissed the claim as "nonsense," but in the slums of the Haitian capital, where street gangs are heavily armed, residents seem to have little doubt their president was persuaded to resign against his will.
The U.S. Marines have fought half a dozen battles with Aristide loyalists since they landed hours after Aristide went into exile. The Marines have killed six people.
UNDER FIRE IN SLUMS
In the latest incident, Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said a Marine was hit when several gunmen attacked a patrol, on foot and in Humvees, in Belair.
"One Marine was wounded in the left arm. He was evacuated to Miami. His condition is not life-threatening," Lapan said. "This is our first casualty. We believe it was an ambush."
Marines fired back but it was unknown whether any attackers were hit.
In a ceremony at the international force's new headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ronald Coleman formally took over the U.N.-sanctioned deployment.
Coleman will be in charge of not just U.S. Marines, the bulk of the force, but also of French gendarmes and legionnaires, and Canadian and Chilean troops.
"This is not an occupation force," Coleman said.
He told reporters later that Sunday night's shooting "will only increase our resolve to do what needs to be done."
The troops were sent to restore order after more than 200 people were killed in the revolt that broke out on Feb. 5, and after Aristide's flight triggered looting and reprisal killings.
Many slum dwellers, who see Aristide as a champion of the poor and reject accusations he became a corrupt despot, hope his proximity in Jamaica, just 115 miles from Haiti's shores, will herald his eventual return.
Aristide left the Central African Republic, where he and his wife have been since he was ousted, early on Monday.
His plane made at least two refueling stops -- once in the western African nation of Senegal and then in the Caribbean island state of Barbados.
Jamaica's prime minister has said Aristide would spend up to 10 weeks there. He has not been granted asylum in Jamaica.
While attention was focused on Aristide's return to the Caribbean, Latortue continued to put together a cabinet he hopes will unite the divided country and end bloodshed.
His goal of reconciliation may be undermined by weekend arrests that seemed to target members of Aristide's Lavalas Family political movement.
The United Nations (news - web sites) on Monday also began its first food distribution operation in the northern city of Cap Haitien -- Haiti's second-largest with 500,000 people -- since the revolt began more than a month ago.