UN peacekeepers kill five

Hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers have stormed one of the poorest slums in Haiti, killing at least five people in what authorities claim is a crackdown on armed gangs.

A gang leader closely linked to ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was among those reportedly killed.

Up to 400 peacekeepers raided the Cite Soleil shanty town in central Port-au-Prince and were involved in at least four prolonged shoot-outs, said Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Smicelapo, a military spokesman for the Brazilian troops leading the UN mission.

Ernest Erilus, the Mayor of Cite Soleil, a no-go area populated by the poorest and most desperate Haitians, told Radio Metropole that Emmanuel "Dread" Wilme, was among those killed. The Haitian police chief, Leon Charles, said: "We are not able to give a death toll at this time but we are 80 per cent sure he was killed."

Wilme, who commanded a heavily armed group of youths, was a key figure among the pro-Aristide groups that have frequently clashed with police and peacekeepers since Aristide's forced departure last year.

If reports of his death are confirmed, Wilme will have been at least the second gang leader killed in Cite Soleil this year. In March, gang clashes claimed Thomas Robenson, a leader known as "Labanye" who was once allied with Aristide.

Haiti is having elections this year.

Aristide supporters and rights groups have accused the 7000 UN peacekeepers of failing to prevent attacks on them by police and of inflicting violence.

- Independent