The United States' top soldier has vowed that foreign peacekeepers would take tough action against trouble-makers in Haiti, hours after Marines killed two more gunmen in a firefight in the tense Caribbean nation. General Richard Myers, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew into Port-au-Prince at the end of a Latin American trip. He is visiting US Marines, who are leading a force sent to restore order after deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was exiled last month. "The multilateral force will not tolerate violence against [itself] ... nor violence against Haitian civilians," General Myers said. "Those who take up arms and those who take up violence will be dealt with properly."
| Shooting them seems a proper thing to do... |
The capital is agitated by the looming return of Mr Aristide to the Caribbean, in a planned visit to neighbouring Jamaica that Haiti's new government and US officials say will feed the fury of his loyalists. General Myers was taken by helicopter from the heavily guarded airport to the Marines' base in another part of the sprawling capital, avoiding roads that pass through some of the slums that are a stronghold of support for the ousted president. The latest shooting took place on Friday night after Aristide supporters opened fire on Marines patrolling a slum near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince.
| That was stupid, wasn't it? |
Residents say up to 11 people died or were injured as bullets flew, but the Marines say they could confirm only two deaths. Leading a United Nation-sanctioned 2,550-member international force, the Marines have fought more than half a dozen battles since landing on February 29, hours after Mr Aristide was pushed out by a month-long revolt and US pressure. |