By Michael Christie and Ibon Villelabeitia
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) -
Haiti named a new prime minister on Tuesday as a step toward restoring
order after a month of bloody turmoil and the United Nations appealed to
the world to aid the impoverished Caribbean country.
U.S. Marines sent in when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was driven out nine days ago reported killing a civilian and Haitian police shot three suspected looters -- bloody reminders of simmering violence in a country awash with guns.
With the 2,300-strong U.S.-led international force on patrol, a council of "wise men" made up of prominent Haitians picked former Foreign Minister Gerard Latortue as prime minister until elections can be held.
Latortue, a native of the northwest port city of Gonaives and a former senior official of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, replaces Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who was appointed by Aristide.
"They are looking for an independent man. I am an independent man," Latortue told Reuters by telephone from Florida, where he has been living and working as a business consultant and hosting a television talk show.
U.N. resident coordinator Adama Guindo issued an urgent appeal for $35 million in funds to feed and care for 3 million of Haiti's 8 million people for six months. "The situation in Haiti is one of chronic crisis," Guindo said.
Shortly before he spoke, Haitian police killed one man and injured two others near a Port-au-Prince industrial area that was looted in the days after Aristide's departure on Feb. 29. Marines who saw the incident said the victims were pushing a soda vehicle.
On Monday Marines night fired on a car speeding toward a road block and killed the driver, said Master Sgt. Jose Ruiz of U.S. Southern Command in Miami. A second man was wounded and handed over to police, he said.
"The Marines fired in self defense," Ruiz said.
It was the second time since their deployment that U.S. forces have used deadly force. The international force, also including French gendarmes and Canadian and Chilean troops, faced continuing angry protests on Tuesday.
'WE WANT OUR PRESIDENT BACK'
At a roadblock made of smoldering tires, garbage and an overturned car chassis near the airport, 500 Aristide supporters gestured at Marines and passing French military vehicles, urging them to "go, go, go."
"We want our president back," said Junior Louis, a 21-year-old clad in an oversized basketball shirt and shorts.
Aristide -- a champion of democracy when he helped oust the Duvalier dictatorship in the 1980s but who was later accused of corruption and political violence -- has urged supporters to "peacefully" resist what he termed a U.S. occupation.
His Miami attorney, Ira Kurzban, asked the U.S. attorney general to investigate what he called his kidnapping. The former priest was flown to the Central African Republic aboard an American plane accompanied by U.S. military personnel.
Aid agencies say Haiti is on the brink, with a third of the population suffering chronic malnutrition and at least a quarter of a million dependent on handouts.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in direct development aid and loans were suspended after parliamentary elections in 2000, won by Aristide's Lavalas Family party, were declared flawed.
An assessment team dispatched by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is beginning work on a plan to rebuild Haiti, and to replace the U.S.-led force with multinational peacekeepers.
"I am convinced that we can make progress but it will take time. It's not one year or even 10 years -- it will take a lot longer, 10 years or more, and we have to be patient," Annan told a news conference in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
Latorte was expected to pick a cabinet this week and members of Aristide's ousted government cautioned him against excluding members of the Lavalas Family party.
"The success of the transition will depend on the balance he can create between the two (main political parties) in terms of power-sharing," said Minister for Haitians Living Abroad Leslie Voltaire.
CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that he was concerned the interim government would have trouble establishing order. The political opposition in Port-au-Prince is distinct from the armed rebels, who have yet to hand in their guns.
"A humanitarian disaster or mass migration remains possible," Tenet told the committee. "A cycle of clashes and revenge killings could easily be set off, given the large number of angry, well-armed people on both sides."
(Additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva and Amy Bracken)