Haitian Student Killed During Protest
By MICHAEL NORTON, Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Police fired warning shots and tear gas to break up a confrontation between Haitian protesters and their foes in front of the U.S. Consulate on Wednesday. One student was killed, apparently when he was struck by a tear-gas grenade.
The student protesters were demanding that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide step down. They were met by Aristide partisans who pelted them with rocks.
One student was shot and killed near the consulate, apparently by a gun-fired tear gas grenade that hit him in the back and caused internal bleeding, said Dr. Eric Cantave, who removed the canister from the student’s back.
Dozens of students and parents crowded into the capital’s main
The students want the
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Officials temporarily shut down the U.S. Consulate because of the unrest, said Judith Trunzo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, which remained open and is about one mile from the consulate.
The protest was held outside the Consulate in defiance of a police order that limited demonstrations to a seaside square.
There was no immediate police comment about Wednesday’s shooting.
Aristide will meet with regional leaders on Friday in
The opposition says it will not hold talks with the government or participate in new elections unless Aristide resigns. Aristide has said he plans to serve out his term, which ends in 2006.
“Aristide is pitting the police against the people,” opposition politician Evans Paul said.
Police broke up three student demonstrations last week with tear gas, saying they weren’t complying with a 1987 decree requiring protesters to submit plans two days before and to give names of participants.