Rebel leader declares he's military chief (Haiti)

[Khephra]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe announced himself as the new chief of the troubled nation's armed forces Tuesday and took over a government building as his headquarters, where thousands cheered the man they said freed them from the tumultuous rule of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Philippe, who insists he has no political ambitions in Haiti's still-developing government, gestured grandly from the second-floor balcony of a former military headquarters, accepting the accolades from local Haitians who had been hunkered in their homes for weeks in fear of the pro-Aristide gunmen known as "chimeres" who menaced the city. Another rebel leader screamed a pledge to arrest the "criminals," and the crowd shouted for the arrest of Yvon Neptune, the prime minister in Aristide's administration.

"Hallelujah, Haiti!" the crowd yelled as rebels tossed out voodoo art kept in the building, which was most recently used as a museum to celebrate Haiti's bicentennial. The crowd burned the artifacts, starting with an ornate child's coffin, which held a small doll.

Philippe's rebels -- who include former members of death squads that carried out tortures and executions in the early 1990's -- Tuesday appeared to be largely filling the power vacuum in Haiti, which has been in political turmoil since Aristide left the country on Sunday for exile in Africa.

"I am the chief," Philippe told a news conference Tuesday. Asked what he meant, Philippe said, "The military chief."

more...............


http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03032004/nation_w/144349.asp

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

1. How democratic.

Don't forget, * supports this behavior.