Men armed with guns, machetes block entry to Port-au-Prince

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Enraged supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide armed themselves with machetes, guns, rocks and bottles and roamed a downtown slum, threatening to behead foreigners after U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police arrested dozens of people Wednesday.

Peacekeepers in armored personnel carriers moved into Bel Air, trying to put down a campaign by Aristide loyalists who have carried out gory beheadings in imitation of Iraqi insurgents.

Wednesday morning, the headless body of a man lay in the street in La Salines, a seaside slum. Last week, three police officers were decapitated when Aristide supporters stepped up protests demanding his return from exile in South Africa, launching what they called "Operation Baghdad."

One angry man in Bel Air thrust a gun into the face of an Associated Press reporter Wednesday, yelled expletives against President Bush and U.N. peacekeepers, then screamed: "We are going to kidnap some Americans and cut off their heads."

At least 19 people have been killed in Port-au-Prince. Relief workers say the violence could paralyze attempts to feed tens of thousands of people in the northwest port city of Gonaives, which was devastated by Tropical Storm Jeanne last month.

At least 46 people have been treated for gunshot wounds since Friday, Port-au-Prince General Hospital said.

Aristide loyalists had sealed off Bel Air, a warren of concrete homes overlooking the National Palace in Port-au-Prince. In Wednesday's operation, U.N. troops and Haitian police surrounded the district, searching cars and people at checkpoints near torched cars that residents were using to keep them out.

Police director Renan Etienne said they detained some 500 people for questioning during the sweep of Bel Air, but found no weapons.

"They were all bandits ... They had been firing at police," he told The Associated Press. He was unable to explain why no guns were found.

Police spokeswoman Jesse Coicou said 75 people were arrested.

On Tuesday, a dozen young men and children in Bel Air shot a man and tried unsuccessfully to hack off his head, accusing him of spying for rebels who overthrew Aristide, said Ninger Napoleon, a reporter for Radio Antilles.

The troops and police withdrew from Bel Air Wednesday morning, leaving deserted streets to men and boys armed with machetes, guns, knives, bottles and stones. They lit bonfires to block roads with torched cars, tires, mattresses and old furniture.

"We demand Aristide's return," they said.

One young man peeked out from behind a door and whispered "I just want to go to school. This violence is preventing me from living my life."

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue -- whom protesters also have threatened to behead -- accused pro-Aristide street gangs of instigating the violence. Aristide supporters say the police started it by firing at unarmed protesters.

"This threatens to paralyze all the humanitarian efforts we have in Gonaives. It's extremely serious," said Anne Poulsen of the U.N. World Food Program.

She said the unrest had scared away workers from the port, stranding 2,430 tons of food there.

The government has only 3,000 ill-equipped officers to police a country of 8 million people, and the Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force has 3,000 troops -- well under the 8,000 promised.

Some 750 peacekeepers are protecting relief food supplies and distribution for storm victims in Gonaives. At least 1,870 Haitians were killed by the tropical storm, and nearly 900 more are missing -- most presumed dead.

In Gonaives, food aid has failed to reach thousands who are too weak, sick or old to get into rowdy food lines. More than 100,000 remain hungry nearly three weeks after Jeanne's passage, the International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies said.

Saint Amise Dorcelue said she has tried and failed four times to get food for herself and her five boys. Six months pregnant, Dorcelue was left penniless after her husband died trying to save his fishing boat from the storm.

"I'm hungry, too, but I can't fight or my baby might get hurt," the barefoot 30-year-old said, patting her stomach.

Gonaives had never recovered from a February rebellion that began when a street gang torched government buildings, released jailed criminals and forced police to flee. Dozens of people were killed.

Organization of American States Secretary-General Miguel Angel Rodriguez made a one-hour visit to Gonaives Wednesday.

"The most important thing is to keep the help coming with food and the health situation," he said.

Rodriguez said the OAS and the World Bank will soon begin a $30 million environmental project to help ease flooding.

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Associated Press writer Stevenson Jacobs contributed to this report from Gonaives.