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</font><div align="center"><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=3><b>AHP News -
February 8, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)<br><br>
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Prime Minister Yvon Neptune calls on the opposition political coalition
to bring an end to the terrorist acts perpetrated in several regions of
the country<br>
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<font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, February 8, 2004-
(AHP)- </b>Prime Minister Yvon Neptune called Sunday for the leaders of
the opposition to bring to an end the terrorist acts committed by its
members in several regions of the country, notably Gonaïves, Saint-Marc
and Grand-Goâve.<br><br>
Partisans of the Platform killed members of the population Thursday as
well as police officers during an attack that made use of heavy weapons
directed against the police headquarters in Gonaïves and homes that were
set on fire and looted. <br><br>
"The opposition can not wish to attain power through guns. If it
wished to participate in efforts made by the government to reinforce
democracy, it must renounce violence", asserted the head of the
government. Mr. Neptune also called on the international community to
persuade the opposition of the need to abandon the path of terrorism.
<br><br>
The political problems must be resolved in a constitutional manner in any
democratic society, he said, and he asked the victims of the violence to
assist the police in identifying those responsible for terrorist acts in
order that they be be prevented from causing further harm. <br><br>
The leaders of the political coalition led by André Apaid Junior have
refused on several occasions in recent weeks to join in the various
efforts to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. <br><br>
The Platform again last week distanced itself from a CARICOM initiative
seeking to bring the parties in conflict back to the table to hold a
dialogue. <br><br>
Several leaders of the political coalition, including Winter Etienne have
recently declared that street demonstrations are not enough to oust the
government. The spokesperson for the opposition in Gonaïves said Friday
that demonstrations will not be able to demonstrate anything because the
supporters of Lavalas are always still more numerous in the streets.
<br><br>
The Platform canceled a demonstration this Sunday in the wake of a march
on Saturday by supporters of the government that drew hundreds of
thousands of people. <br><br>
In Grand Goâve, an individual named Ti Nènè, a fugitive from justice who
states that he is working for the opposition political coalition, leads a
group of armed men who set fire Sunday to the police station and
kidnapped a reporter from Télémax, a privately owned television station,
as was returning from Les Cayes. <br><br>
A journalist from the government's TNH television station who was
traveling in the same vehicle has also been reported disappeared.
<br><br>
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</font><h5><b>AHP February 8, 2004 4:00 PM<br><br>
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Armed members of the opposition set fire to the police station in
Grand-Goâve and at least one school, and abduct two journalists, one from
TNH and another from Télémax <br>
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</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Grand Goâve, February 8,
2004 -(AHP)-</b> Armed men from the opposition abducted early this Sunday
in the vicinity of Grand Goâve (40kms South of the capital) a reporter
from Télévision Nationale d'Haïti (TNH, National Television of Haiti) and
a journalist from the privately owned television station,
Telémax.<br><br>
The reporters were identified as Marie Andre Métellus and Frantz
Moise.<br><br>
The two journalists were returning from the city of Les Cayes where they
had covered a pro-government demonstration on Saturday commemorating the
third anniversary of the inauguration of President Aristide's second term
in office. <br><br>
The vehicle in which the crews from the two television stations were
traveling was attacked by supporters of the opposition. <br><br>
According to initial witnesses, the attack was carried out by former
members of the military who are working with the opposition political
coalition. <br><br>
Other journalists who were also aboard the vehicle were able to flee.
<br><br>
The armed men of the opposition also set fire to the city's police
station and at least one school. <br><br>
A new stage has been reached in the strategy of terror launched Thursday
in Gonaives, where members of the opposition led by escaped convict Jean
Tatoune, have killed close to a dozen people including police officers,
and have set fire to the police headquarters, public offices and homes.
<br><br>
These new acts of violence are part of a vast operation put in place by
the opposition in an attempt to take power, said several residents of
Grand-Goâve, who rejected the rumors broadcast over the airwaves that
suggested that the general population is involved in this blind violence.
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</font><h5><b>AHP February 8, 2004 8:00 PM<br>
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