PORT-AU-PRINCE (voa) – A former Haitian police chief and a former paramilitary leader have pledged support for an armed uprising against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Ex-police chief Guy Philippe and former paramilitary leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain announced their support for the insurgents on Saturday.
The Associated Press reports that both men arrived Saturday in Gonaives, Haiti’s fourth-largest city, which the militants seized on February fifth. The report says Mr. Chamblain arrived from the neighboring Dominican Republic, heading a 20-man commando team.
Mr. Philippe fled to the Dominican Republic two years ago after Mr. Aristide’s government accused him of orchestrating a failed coup attempt.
Since the militants took Gonaives, the unrest has spread to much of northern Haiti, claiming about 50 lives.
The militants are demanding the resignation of Mr. Aristide, but the president has vowed to serve out his current term, which ends in 2006.
Haitian officials and humanitarian relief agencies are warning that the unrest has blocked major north-bound roads and threatens the delivery of vital food aid to the north of the country.
U.S., Canadian and Caribbean governments have called for an end to the violence in Haiti.
