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2004-02-27
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Rebels Take Crossroads Town, Near Haitiâs Capital
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Rebels took over a key crossroads town and edged closer to the capital while supporters of embattled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide mounted defenses on Friday against a bloody rebellion that threatened to topple Haitiâs government. The stage was set for a showdown between the ragtag band of former soldiers and gang members trying to unseat Aristide and the diminutive former priest and onetime populist hero of Haitian democracy backed by an ill-trained, 4,000-member police force and a horde of armed gang members from the slums.
The police have been seen ditching their uniforms and wearing civilian clothes. They ainât gonna fight.
A group of rebels called the "Assaillants" (Attackers) from Haitiâs Central Plateau took control of the town of Mirebalais overnight, freeing prisoners from the local jail, a former legislator and radio reports said. Mirebalais is about 30 miles northeast of Port-au-Prince and sits at a junction with access to the capital, the rebel stronghold in the north, the coastal town of Saint Marc and the border with the Dominican Republic, where rebel leaders lived in recent years.
Thatâs the last major town on the road to the capital.
Haitian National Police also dispatched officers to Les Cayes, Haitiâs third-largest city, to quell an apparent uprising, a police official said. Les Cayes is southwest of the capital, an indication the rebellion in the north was spreading.
Success breeds success.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe, a former police chief accused of plotting coups who returned from exile in the Dominican Republic to lead the rebellion, said his men had surrounded Port-au-Prince and are awaiting orders to attack. Philippe has said he wants to celebrate his 36th birthday on Sunday in the capital.
I think heâll make it. 
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Posted by Steve 2004-02-27 11:41:47 AM||
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