Crowds Throng City Seized by Haiti Rebels

Thousands of protesters yelling “Aristide must go!” vowed Friday to repel any attempt to retake control of Haiti’s fourth-largest city, a day after it was seized by armed militants in a revolt against the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Hundreds of people looted a police station still smoldering from Thursday’s bloody assault, in which at least seven people were killed and 20 wounded. About 200,000 people live in Gonaives and its suburbs.

“The revolution has begun!” declared Dormessan Philippe, a 27-year-old in the crowd milling outside the station.

The militants said they aim to seize other towns. The neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has ordered its military to tighten security along the border.

Discontent has grown among Haiti’s 8 million people since Aristide’s party swept flawed elections in 2000 and international donors froze millions of dollars in aid. At least 58 people have been killed since mid-September in clashes among police, government opponents and Aristide supporters.

On Friday, thousands marched on the main highway leading to Gonaives, chanting “Victory!” and “Aristide must go! Too much blood has flowed!” Some rode in a looted police truck, flaunting stolen police uniforms and weapons.

The gunmen attacked symbols of Aristide’s authority, burning the house of Mayor Stephan Moise and a gas station and small inn that he owned. Flames also gutted offices of the central government’s representative.

The dead included three police and four civilians, according to the Haitian Red Cross. The four were militants killed in gun battles with police, Gonaives Resistance Front leader Wynter Etienne told Radio Vision 2000.

At the jail, where the attackers freed more than 100 prisoners Thursday, looters dislodged metal gates and bars.

Stores and schools remained shut. Government spokesman Mario Dupuy said Thursday the attacks were “terrorist acts.” He said police “will have to take measures to re-establish order.” But there were no police in sight in the city Friday.