Haitian Rebels Still Armed and Active
Nightly, camouflage-clad rebels patrol this central Haitian town, still armed and active five months after the rebellion that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Under international pressure, the new government has ordered factions to give up their guns in less than two months, but it has shown little willingness to confront ex-soldiers controlling parts of the countryside despite the presence of U.N. peacekeepers. The rebels, for their part, say no one can force them to disarm. "We have no problem with (the peacekeepers), but they have no right to take our arms," said Fritz Pierre, who leads rebel foot patrols in this town of 10,000 people, 25 miles northeast of the capital. [
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Pictured below:
Haitians supporting former Haitian President Aristide protest against U.S. President George W. Bush during an anti-war protest on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts July 25, 2004. [
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