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The stakes are high: U.N. and interim Haitian officials
fear continued violence could disrupt fall elections
needed to fill a power vacuum left after former President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster last year. More than
400 people have died in clashes since September.
The
shaky security climate was underscored late Tuesday
when gunmen opened fire outside the house of the Haiti's
justice minister, killing a police officer guarding
the property. Police have no suspects or motive in the
attack.
Past
efforts to disarm the gangs failed, most notably a decade
ago when U.S. forces restored Aristide to power after
he was deposed in a 1991 coup, and again when U.N. troops
took over the peacekeeping mission in 1995.
``(Disarmament)
is an even tougher situation today than it was in the
mid-1990s,'' said Peter Gantz, a peacekeeping expert
with the Washington-based Refugees International, noting
that the U.N. force has less funds and troops than during
its earlier Haiti mission.
A
priority for the 7,400-strong Brazilian-led force will
be establishing a presence in rough pro-Aristide slums.
``There's no rule of law there,'' Gantz said.
The
difficulty of disarming gangs, many of which received
money and perhaps weapons under Aristide, stands in
contrast to Haiti's other security problem _ bands of
aging, loosely organized ex-soldiers armed with rusty
rifles who helped overthrow Aristide in February 2004.
In
the first major offensives of its 10-month-old mission,
U.N. troops raided two rural towns over the weekend
and easily removed groups of ex-soldiers who had occupied
the areas for months. Two peacekeepers and two ex-soldiers
died in clashes.
Amid
charges of timidity toward armed groups, U.N. envoy
to Haiti Juan Gabriel Valdes said Tuesday that peacekeepers
were stepping up action to secure elections in October
and November. He urged gangs to accept a U.N. offer
to disarm and re-enter society.
But
matching recent success against ex-soldiers with gangs
will be tough
Many
remain loyal to Aristide and say they'd give their lives
to ensure his return from exile in South Africa. If
police or soldiers enter the area, gang members have
clever ways to conceal their arms _ including stashing
them inside coffins that are buried and later dug up
_ before disappearing down trash-strewn side streets.
Damian
Onses-Cardona, a U.N. spokesman in Haiti, said peacekeepers
can be effective in other ways beyond direct confrontation.
``It's
not a question of going into an area and only'' fighting
gangs, Onses-Cardona said. ``You can capture gang leaders
and make that have an effect on everyone else.''
Pro-Aristide
gangs have their roots in the 1991 coup, when paramilitary
death squads sprayed Aristide's slum strongholds with
gunfire. Some of today's Aristide loyalists were orphaned
by the killings, which eased in 1994 when U.S. troops
restored Aristide.
Many
say the fighting will continue unless the angry, young
slum dwellers have a better alternative to picking up
a gun.
``What
these people need are jobs, but there won't be any jobs
until there's stability, and there won't be stability
until there's a political process safe and open to everyone,''
Gantz said.
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