HAITI: US marines shot and killed two more Haitian gunmen, a spokesman said yesterday, the third and fourth Haitians slain by US forces since they arrived in the country on March 1st.
The latest shootings took place on Tuesday night near the prime minister's residence, hours after a US-backed council selected a replacement for Mr Yvon Neptune, the Aristide ally now holding the office.
"They received hostile fire from multiple gunmen. The marines returned fire and secured the building from which they believed the shooting had originated and reported to command that they had two gunmedead," said Staff Sgt Tim Edwards.
The marines came under fire again when they returned to the scene with Haitian police to remove the bodies. They found blood, shell casings and impact marks, but no bodies, Sgt Edwards said.
Several gunmen opened fire on the prime minister's residence again a few hours later. The marines were dispatched again but it was unclear whether they opened fire.
The US-led forces stepped up their efforts to disarm Haiti, launching a joint disarmament programme with Haitian police, including a public relations campaign on local radio to encourage rival gangs to turn in their weapons.
There are 2,300 troops and gendarmes in the force, from the United States, France, Canada and Chile.
The US-backed "wise men" on Tuesday picked Mr Gerard Latortue, a business consultant and former Haitian foreign minister, to serve as prime minister until elections can be held. Mr Latortue is an Aristide critic who has been living in Florida. He was expected to return to Haiti yesterday.
Meanwhile, crowds of Aristide loyalists danced and sang in some of Port-au-Prince's sprawling slums, demanding the return of the President. "Our blood is Aristide's blood," one crowd chanted.
"Aristide is the only one who looked after us. He is our President for five years and we are going to continue to protest peacefully, without weapons," a local, Mr Jackson Francois, said.