[R-G] Haiti protesters set fire targeting US-sponsored project

[Anthony Fenton]

Haiti protesters set fire targeting US-sponsored project
11 January 2008
http://www.haiti-info.com/spip.php?article4456
AP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti_Protesters set fire to a government building in  
Haiti’s largest slum Friday in an apparent effort to disrupt the  
inauguration of a U.S.-backed project to help fight crime, witnesses  
and officials said.

A small group of men burned tires outside the entrance to the Cite  
Soleil mayor’s office before bystanders chased them away, according  
to witnesses. Flames blackened part of the building, but no injuries  
were reported.

The U.S. ambassador and the chief United Nations envoy to Haiti  
arrived hours later to launch the "House of Justice" initiative,  
which will provide conflict resolution services for residents of the  
oceanside slum.

Cite Soleil assistant mayor Benoit Gustave accused criminals of  
trying to disrupt the project.

"People who are killing, stealing and raping never like legal  
protection, and as you can see, they were trying to bring it down,"  
he said.

But witnesses said they suspected the culprits were opponents of Cite  
Soleil Mayor Wilson Louis, who has faced accusations of corruption.

"These guys knew a lot of important people would be coming today.  
It’s a message that the mayor has to watch out," said Dorsanvil  
Diufete, a 45-year-old welder who saw the fire being set.

The initiative is part of a US$20 million (€13.5 million) Defense  
Department-funded program to stabilize the overcrowded slum, which  
was dominated by powerful gangs before U.N. peacekeepers swept them  
out last year.

"It’s all part of the plan to get the government back, so there isn’t  
this vacuum that’s allowed the gangs to flourish," U.S. Ambassador  
Janet Sanderson told The Associated Press.