US Marines kill 2 in a Haitian clash

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- US Marines killed two gunmen Friday after coming under fire in Haiti as US and French forces struggled to restore order there, Marine officials said yesterday.

The men were killed after Marines were targeted by gunfire, which US officials said had originated from supporters of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Yesterday, General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid a visit to Haiti, and toured a Marine base.

The Marines, leading a UN-sanctioned 2,550-member force that also includes French soldiers, have fought a half-dozen battles since they landed hours after Aristide left the country on Feb. 29, pushed out by a month of revolt and by US pressure to quit.

The shooting Friday night brought to six the number of Haitians killed by US forces.

Haiti's new prime minister, Gerard Latortue pursued efforts yesterday to persuade Jamaica's prime minister, P. J. Patterson, to cut short Aristide's stay this week.

Latortue, who was sworn in on Friday, told Patterson that Aristide's planned return to the Caribbean had further stoked tensions in Haiti. Aristide has insisted from exile in the Central African Republic that he is still president.

In the battle on Friday night, which underscored growing hostility against US forces, gunmen fired rifles and light automatic weapons at Marines patrolling on foot and in armored vehicles in the pro-Aristide slum of Belair.

"The Marines returned fire and two gunmen were killed. There were no Marine casualties," said Staff Sergeant Tim Edwards.

In Belair, barricades blocked roads. Buildings were pockmarked by bullet holes. Gang members walked through streets, some with weapons. The body of a woman identified as Jeanne-Louis Yolette, 23, lay under a sheet. Families said she had been hit by a US Marine bullet on Friday; this was not confirmed. Locals said that at least another 11 people had been wounded or killed; this also could be not be confirmed.