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| One of the leaders of an armed revolt
that ousted Haiti's ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year has
been killed in a shoot-out with Haitian police and UN civilian police.
(Photo: Xinhua/AFP) |
HAVANA, April 9 (Xinhuanet) -- One of the leaders of
an ex-soldier rebel group that ousted Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide last year was killed in a police operation on Saturday.
Remissainthe Ravix, hunted by police for months in
connection with the killing of four police officers, was killed along with three
of his colleagues in a shoot-out with police in Port-au-Prince, police said.
Ravix was one of the leaders of the armed revolt that
forced Aristide into exile on Feb. 29 last year.
Relations between the rebels and the new government
led by interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue were initially good but soured
later over demand by Ravix and other members of the ex-military for the
re-establishment of the army. The military was dismissed by Aristide in 1995.
Police and the ex-military forces began clashing in
the early afternoon of Saturday in Delmas, with gunfire and some huge blasts
rattling the district.
"We chased them from 75 to 30 Delmas (street) where
they were brought down," police general direct Leonce Charles was quoted as
saying by local reports.
The police chief said UN peacekeepers and the Haitian
police have intensified security measures along major highways leading
toPort-au-Prince to prevent possible retaliation by Ravix's supporters.
Former soldiers loyal to Ravix, who are still active
in severalparts of the impoverished Caribbean country, have warned they would
take action if the Haitian police arrested or killed Ravix.
Some 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops and 1,400 UN police
are deployed in Haiti to help stabilize the country ahead of the elections
scheduled for October and November. Enditem |