HAVANA, Mar 3, 2004 (Xinhua via COMTEX)
-- Tension remained unabated in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince
as violence continued to rampage the city Wednesday despite the departure
of former President Jean- Bertrand Aristide.
Heavy gun battles erupted between rebels
and Aristide's supporters in the slum neighborhood of the capital, which
was also plagued by looting and arson sprees, reports reaching here said.
Aristide fled into exile to the Central African Republic on Sunday under mounting pressure from armed rebels and the opposition.
At least seven people had been killed and 15 residences of former officials of Aristide's regime had been burned down or looted since rebels led violent demonstrations in the Haitian capital Tuesday.
US Marines, as part of a multinational peacekeeping force deployed in the Caribbean nation to help restore peace and order, continued to move into key positions and patrolled the streets.
Meanwhile, one was killed Wednesday in Sarthe, a city north of Port-au-Prince, and two Aristide's supporters were murdered in the city of Saint Marc.
Another sympathizer of the toppled president was killed in the southern town of Petit-Goave, where barricades were set up in the streets by rebels.
Party representatives gathered Wednesday to discuss the planned political transition under a power-sharing deal brokered by the international community.
In a radio address, Haiti's interim President Boniface Alexandre called on all the parties to set their differences aside for national reconciliation and appointed Leon Charles as new police chief to replace Jocelyne Pierre.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe announced on Wednesday that he had ordered his fighters to lay down arms and put them under control of the new government following a meeting with a US Marine commander.
The United States had warned Philippe that there would be no place for him in Haiti's political future and advised him to cast away his ambition to fill the power vacuum in post-Aristide Haiti.