Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Masked gunmen rioted in Haiti this week, demanding the return of the deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Eighteen people were killed over four days, including three police officers who were shot and decapitated. Interim government officials said the killings were part of an offensive that gangs were calling “Operation Baghdad.” About 150 Aristide loyalists built burning barricades to keep police and United Nations peacekeepers out of Bel Air, a slum near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince. “If they come in here, we’re going to cut off their heads,” said Milo Fenelon, one of the loyalists. “It’s going to be just like Baghdad.” The political tension in Haiti has exploded as the country is struggling to recover from Tropical Storm Jeanne, which killed more than 1,500 people and left more than 200,000 homeless.
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