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2/8 Haiti News

by AHP
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune calls on opposition political coalition to bring an end to the terrorist acts perpetrated in several regions of the country;A rmed members of the opposition set fire to the police station in Grand-Goâve and at least one school, and abduct two journalists
AHP News - February 8, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)

An independent news service. See their website for originals in French at
http://www.ahphaiti.org

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Prime Minister Yvon Neptune calls on the opposition political coalition to
bring an end to the terrorist acts perpetrated in several regions of the country
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Port-au-Prince, February 8, 2004- (AHP)- Prime Minister Yvon Neptune called
Sunday for the leaders of the opposition to bring to an end the terrorist acts
committed by its members in several regions of the country, notably Gonaïves,
Saint-Marc and Grand-Goâve.

Partisans of the Platform killed members of the population Thursday as well
as police officers during an attack that made use of heavy weapons directed
against the police headquarters in Gonaïves and homes that were set on fire and
looted.

"The opposition can not wish to attain power through guns. If it wished to
participate in efforts made by the government to reinforce democracy, it must
renounce violence", asserted the head of the government. Mr. Neptune also called
on the international community to persuade the opposition of the need to
abandon the path of terrorism.

The political problems must be resolved in a constitutional manner in any
democratic society, he said, and he asked the victims of the violence to assist
the police in identifying those responsible for terrorist acts in order that
they be be prevented from causing further harm.

The leaders of the political coalition led by André Apaid Junior have refused
on several occasions in recent weeks to join in the various efforts to find a
peaceful way out of the crisis.

The Platform again last week distanced itself from a CARICOM initiative
seeking to bring the parties in conflict back to the table to hold a dialogue.

Several leaders of the political coalition, including Winter Etienne have
recently declared that street demonstrations are not enough to oust the
government. The spokesperson for the opposition in Gonaïves said Friday that
demonstrations will not be able to demonstrate anything because the supporters of
Lavalas are always still more numerous in the streets.

The Platform canceled a demonstration this Sunday in the wake of a march on
Saturday by supporters of the government that drew hundreds of thousands of
people.

In Grand Goâve, an individual named Ti Nènè, a fugitive from justice who
states that he is working for the opposition political coalition, leads a group of
armed men who set fire Sunday to the police station and kidnapped a reporter
from Télémax, a privately owned television station, as was returning from Les
Cayes.

A journalist from the government's TNH television station who was traveling
in the same vehicle has also been reported disappeared.

AHP February 8, 2004 4:00 PM


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Armed members of the opposition set fire to the police station in Grand-Goâve
and at least one school, and abduct two journalists, one from TNH and another
from Télémax
------------------------------------------------------------------------



Grand Goâve, February 8, 2004 -(AHP)- Armed men from the opposition abducted
early this Sunday in the vicinity of Grand Goâve (40kms South of the capital)
a reporter from Télévision Nationale d'Haïti (TNH, National Television of
Haiti) and a journalist from the privately owned television station, Telémax.

The reporters were identified as Marie Andre Métellus and Frantz Moise.

The two journalists were returning from the city of Les Cayes where they had
covered a pro-government demonstration on Saturday commemorating the third
anniversary of the inauguration of President Aristide's second term in office.

The vehicle in which the crews from the two television stations were
traveling was attacked by supporters of the opposition.

According to initial witnesses, the attack was carried out by former members
of the military who are working with the opposition political coalition.

Other journalists who were also aboard the vehicle were able to flee.

The armed men of the opposition also set fire to the city's police station
and at least one school.

A new stage has been reached in the strategy of terror launched Thursday in
Gonaives, where members of the opposition led by escaped convict Jean Tatoune,
have killed close to a dozen people including police officers, and have set
fire to the police headquarters, public offices and homes.

These new acts of violence are part of a vast operation put in place by the
opposition in an attempt to take power, said several residents of Grand-Goâve,
who rejected the rumors broadcast over the airwaves that suggested that the
general population is involved in this blind violence.

AHP February 8, 2004 8:00 PM
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