HAITI: FIRST CONTINGENT OF MULTINATIONAL FORCES MOVE INTO CITY OF GONAIVES - WHERE REVOLT TO TOPPLE PRESIDENT ARISTIDE BEGAN
Record ID:
648195
HAITI: FIRST CONTINGENT OF MULTINATIONAL FORCES MOVE INTO CITY OF GONAIVES - WHERE REVOLT TO TOPPLE PRESIDENT ARISTIDE BEGAN
- Title: HAITI: FIRST CONTINGENT OF MULTINATIONAL FORCES MOVE INTO CITY OF GONAIVES - WHERE REVOLT TO TOPPLE PRESIDENT ARISTIDE BEGAN
- Date: 19th March 2004
- Summary: (W1) GONAIVES, HAITI (MARCH 19, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF BOAT MAKERS ON BEACH (3 SHOTS) 0.13 2. HAITIAN AND FRENCH FLAGS 0.18 3. FRENCH ARMOURED VEHICLE ARRIVING TO THE CITY 0.24 4. CHILDREN WATCHING 0.26 5. VARIOUS OF FRENCH SOLDIERS ARRIVING AND BEGINNING TO PATROL (9 SHOTS) 1.07 6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CAPTAIN. GEORGE TOURMENTE, COMMANDER OF THE FRENCH DEPLOYMENT SAYING: "Upon arriving to Gonaives, we have very well received by the population who seem to be very happy that we have arrived." 1.13 7. FRENCH SOLDIERS 1.18 8. (SOUNDBITE) (French) TOURMENTE, SAYING: "Ours is not a mission of disarmament. This is a mission with the (Haitian) National Police to facilitate returning the situation to normal." 1.28 9. VARIOUS OF FRENCH SOLDIERS IN TANKS (3 SHOTS) 1.40 10. REBEL LEADER BUTER METAYER ARRIVING AT FORMER STRONGHOLD 1.45 11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) WYNTER ETIENNE, RESIDENT OF GONAIVES, SAYING: "We have won the first part of the battle but at heart our aim went beyond fighting a dictator. Our aim was equally to achieve durable development for this country." 1.58 12. VARIOUS OF METAYER AND OTHER REBELS EXITING FORMER STRONGHOLD 2.09 13. VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES (6 SHOTS) 2.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GONAIVES, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Reuters ID: LVABAQ6XN3K1ZI2TH0MP0P5BIFI3
- Story Text: Contingent of multinational forces rumble into Gonaives,
the Haitian seaside town where the violence to
topple Aristide began.
The first major contingent of multinational forces
rumbled into the gritty Haitian city of Gonaives on Friday
(March 19) where an armed revolt erupted more than a month
ago that led to the ousting of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. The troops are on a mission to restore order to
the still-restive town.
A column of more than 140 French Legionnaires in
armoured personnel carriers, trucks and jeeps pulled into a
university compound in Gonaives, watched by an excited
gaggle of children and a few wary adults, some warning the
"war" was not over.
It was the first major move by multinational forces
into the seaside town where the latest round of violence in
the impoverished Caribbean nation began. A small detachment
of French troops scouted the area on Thursday (March 18).
The 3,000-member force sent by the United Nations to
restore order after Aristide's departure on Feb. 29 had
been concentrating its efforts in Port-au-Prince, the
capital.
"We have won the first part of the battle but at heart
our aim went beyond fighting a dictator," said Wynter
Etienne, a spokesman for the Gonaives rebels who helped
chase Aristide into exile. "Our aim was equally to achieve
durable development for this country."
Rebel leaders in charge of Gonaives since they kicked
out a contingent of Haitian National Police on February 5
said they expected Haiti's new prime minister, Gerard
Latortue, to visit on Saturday (March 20) and address the
city's 200,000 mostly dirt-poor inhabitants.
Etienne said the so-called Front for the Liberation of
Haiti would lay down their arms in front of Latortue, who
is a native of Gonaives, Haiti's fourth-largest city.
Buter Metayer, leader of the street gang that led the
Gonaives uprising, drove around town on Friday in a smart
four-wheel drive seized from police, reassuring residents
over the arrival of French troops.
Despite these assurances, occasional pockets of tension
were seen. One young man waving a pistol in one hand and a
semi-automatic rifle shouted: "No one is taking my guns."
Some residents warned the "war" was not over and
expressed caution about the new government headed by
Latortue.
Gonaives, ruled by street gangs and rebels since the
revolt began, seemed cleaner than in past weeks. A water
truck sprayed water on the roadway near a market to clear
away some of the street sludge.
Barricades of rusty car chassis, shipping containers
and scrap metal had been pushed to the side and life had
returned to its chaotic norm. Bicycles and cars clogged the
streets.
Guns, once widespread throughout the city, were rarely
seen and Metayer's foot soldiers had discarded uniforms and
flak jackets stolen from police.
Capt. George Tourmente, commander of the French
deployment, said the main mission for the Legionnaires was
to allow police to take up their posts in Gonaives again
and help the city return to a normal life.
"We have no mission of disarming the people," he said.
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