US marines shoot, wound 2 men in Haiti

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3888235,00.html

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - U.S. Marines shot and wounded two men who did not stop at a checkpoint in Haiti's volatile capital, a military spokesman said Sunday.

A French Legionnaire was accidentally shot and killed by another French soldier who was cleaning his rifle. It was the first fatality for international peacekeepers in Haiti, the U.S. military said in a statement Sunday.
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[saigon68]

1. Sounds like Iraq

They have to learn to "unload" the rifle prior to cleaning it.

[seemslikeadream]

2. friends accused the Marines of shooting without warning.

They said Balmir and Luckman were driving to an all-night pharmacy to get asthma medicine for Balmir's son and never saw the Marine checkpoint. Many parts of the city are dark because of power blackouts.

Balmir, who was shot in the head, stomach and buttocks, told a friend, Junior Honorat, that "They just started shooting," Honorat said Sunday. "He had his window down and kept yelling at them, 'No! No! No!' ... but they kept shooting."

Honorat said Balmir was carrying a pistol for protection, but insisted he never drew it from his waist holster.

Balmir's wife, Nancy, a U.S. citizen who splits her time between Haiti and the United States, said she would file a complaint with local police and ask the U.S. military to pay for hospital costs and replace the vehicle.

"The Americans are supposed to be helping us," she said after a six-hour operation to remove bullet fragments from her husband's intestine. "I thought the Marines were going to come here to arrest the (gangs), but instead they are destroying anything in front of them."

Sunday morning, dozens of onlookers gathered around the bullet-riddled vehicle, with three flat tires, windows blown out and seats smeared with blood. Across the street, the national telephone company's building also was pocked with bullet holes.

Gerald Pierre, a 40-year-old resident who claimed to have witnessed the shooting, said the men tried to pass another car stopped at the checkpoint.

"They tried to slow down but it was too late," he said, sitting on his steps and eating pistachios from a plastic bag.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040321/APN/403210787



A French Legionaire patrols a street in Gonaives city, north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Saturday, March, 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

[seemslikeadream]

3. Marines shot and killed Telusma

Mutial Telusma, 35, a taxi driver, lies dead on a street near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday March 9, 2004. According to a spokesman for the U.S. Military, U.S. Marines shot and killed Telusma as he was speeding toward a military checkpoint. This is the second reported fatality at the hands of the peacekeepers.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)



Sedelin Telusma, left, and his cousin Vernet Kelly weep near the site where Mutial Telusma, a taxi driver, was killed by U.S. Marines in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday March 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli)



Nahomy Joseph, 22, who identified herself as sister of Mutial Telusma, weeps with other unidentified relatives near the site where Mutial Telusma was killed by U.S. Marines in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday March 9, 2004. According to a spokesman for the U.S. Military, U.S. Marines shot and killed Telusma as he was speeding toward a military checkpoint. This is the second reported fatality at the hands of the peacekeepers. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)