At least five die in gunfire at Haiti demo

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - At least five people were killed by gunfire during a political demonstration in Haiti, which is preparing for elections in the autumn to replace its interim government.

Police officers, many wearing black masks over their faces, fired at demonstrators during the march in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Renan Etienne, central director for Haiti's administrative police, said "bandits" had attacked a police patrol and that "the police returned fire."

"We know that two bandits were killed, but we can't call them demonstrators," Etienne said.

Five bodies lay on the street, some with gunshot wounds in the back, and at least three people were injured. No police were hurt, Etienne said.

The shooting broke out just after the demonstrators passed a headquarters building for the United Nations peacekeepers trying to stabilize Haiti, which has been plagued by violence since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was driven out during a revolt 14 months ago.

Several protesters and witnesses disputed the police account and said police fired at them without provocation. One of the injured, 21-year-old Romel Dorisma, said he had not taken part in the demonstration but was shot by police as he walked out of a pharmacy.

"I saw the police open fire. I got shot in the leg and I had to crawl," said Dorisma, who hid under a wrecked car.

A cameraman for a local television station said he saw police put a gun beside one of the bodies and that police summoned him over afterward and insisted that he film the gun.

The demonstrators were calling for the return of Aristide, the release of imprisoned members of his administration and an end to what they called political persecution by the interim government.

The crowd scattered when the shooting began but gunfire could still be heard in the area two hours later.

The clash came two days after Haitian election officials began registering voters for October 9 legislative polls and a November 13 presidential election.

At least 675 people have been killed in gang and political violence since September. A growing number of politicians and others involved in the electoral process have expressed concern about precarious security in the troubled Caribbean nation.

- REUTERS