THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250077
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRED BAYLES ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CAP-HAITIEN, HAITI LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
In the first deadly confrontation between U.S. troops and Haitians, Marines killed nine armed men outside a police station Saturday night in a clash during the Marines' evening patrol.
The sharp, quick firefight in this city on Haiti's northern coast was followed by a long siege outside the station, as the Marines tried to coax out of the station two men believed to be policemen who were wounded in the shooting.
It wasn't clear whether the nine men killed were police. Many civilian ``attaches'' work alongside Haitian police, which are part of the army.
A U.S. Marine, a Haitian who serves as an interpreter, was wounded in the leg. The injury was not considered serious.
Lt. Col. Steve Hartley, the battalion commander who arrived on the scene minutes after the firefight, said the platoon from Echo Company on patrol had stopped across the street from the station.
When armed men came out of the station, ``words were exchanged, and there was gunfire,'' Hartley said.
Cpl. Mike Arnett, a member of the platoon, said armed men came out of the police station and opened fire.
``Four guys came out from the front desk, saw us and got spooked and lit up their weapons,'' he said. ``And we returned fire.''
Nine Haitians were killed in all.
Elsewhere in Haiti on Saturday, thousands of emboldened Haitians danced through the streets of Port-au-Prince in the biggest pro-democracy demonstration since the elected government was toppledthree years ago.
Police fired tear gas at demonstrators marching by the capital's army headquarters, and other protesters stoned police headquarters before being chased away.
Meanwhile in Cap-Haitien, after the firefight Marine interpreters and Haitian policemen in the station shouted back and forth in the darkness. The Marines were trying to get the two wounded men to surrender.
``Tell them they must come out. Tell them that's the only way they are going to live,'' a Marine officer shouted in the darkness.
``They won't come out, and I'm not going to go in and try to get them in the dark,'' Hartley radioed back to headquarters.
After tense moments, five other men came out of the station, leaving the two wounded men inside. The five were ordered to lie down and were searched by cautious Marines who removed the prisoners' shoes.
A Marine armored personnel carrier that rushed to support the platoon then turned on its headlights to illuminate the street scene, as Marine riflemen pointed their weapons at the open windows on top floor of the two-story, yellow stucco building.
Marines from that platoon had been patrolling the area around the police station throughout the day, exchanging curt ``Bonjours'' with the Haitian police there. The shooting incident occurred about 7 p.m., as dusk fell.
A quick reaction force immediately responded, sealing off the northwest section of this city of 75,000. Civilians ran from the shooting, locking themselves behind shuttered doors and windows.
The night became eerily quiet, except for the shout of Marines and the incessant ringing of phones from within the police station.
``The phone's ringing but no one's home,'' Hartley said as he calmed the Marines surrounding the police station.
Some 1,900 Marines arrived Tuesday in Cap-Haitien to provide security for the U.S-brokered return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. There had been no incidents between Marines and local authorities before Saturday's clash. About 10,000 U.S. troops in all were in Haiti by Saturday.
In the capital Port-au-Prince, the demonstrations by thousands of people, unseen since Aristide was overthrown and exiled in September 1991, reflected the swiftly shifting balance of power. Demonstrators defiantly ignored a ban on such rallies issued Wednesday by Haiti's army-backed government.
The joyful outpouring coincided with a visit by Defense Secretary William Perry, who brought a message of pride to the U.S. soldiers deployed here to restore Haiti's elected government.
Haitians waving green branches symbolizing peace swarmed through the seaport and the Cite Soleil slum, which had been terrorized by military-backed gunmen until the arrival of American GIs five days ago.
Demonstrators chanted and waved signs reading: ``We Want Aristide,'' ``Disarm the Death Squads,'' and ``(army chief Raoul) Cedras Has to Leave.''
Later, away from American forces, about 100 protesters hurled rocks at the Port-au-Prince police headquarters, a torture site under military rulers. Protesters dispersed after police with automatic weapons ran out of building. There were no reports of injuries. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Marines subdue Haitians in the street outside the police
headquarters in Cap-Haitien after a firefight Saturday. Nine
Haitians were killed and a Haitian who serves as an interpreter with
the Marines was injured in the fighting.
KEYWORDS: HAITI U.S. MARINE CORPS. FATALITIES by CNB