Arson Haiti

Arsonists burned down a Roman Catholic chapel in Haiti, hours after six people claimed responsibility for a massacre at another church. Opposition figures charged that the government was behind the blaze at the Chapel of Immaculate Conception in Port-au-Prince's Cite Soleil slum. There were no deaths or injuries reported. Late Monday, five men and a woman appeared on television to boast of taking part in the attack Sunday at the St. Jean Bosco Roman Catholic Church in the La Saline slum.

A fire roared through a slum that is a stronghold of support for exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, destroying about 200 dwellings Monday. A private radio station reported 10 people dead. Stunned residents of the Cite Soleil slum said the blaze was set by members of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, which supports the military that ousted Aristide in a 1991 coup. But the group denied responsibility.

Members of Haiti's Electoral Council are considering postponing the Nov. 29 national election after an arson fire destroyed the presses and tons of paper used to produce the ballots. "The lack of ballots because of the destruction of the Le Natal (printing company) could delay elections," council member Alain Rocourt said. Council members said the panel will announce its decision Saturday on whether the elections can be held as scheduled.

Arsonists burned down a Roman Catholic chapel in Haiti, hours after six people claimed responsibility for a massacre at another church. Opposition figures charged that the government was behind the blaze at the Chapel of Immaculate Conception in Port-au-Prince's Cite Soleil slum. There were no deaths or injuries reported. Late Monday, five men and a woman appeared on television to boast of taking part in the attack Sunday at the St. Jean Bosco Roman Catholic Church in the La Saline slum.

A fire roared through a slum that is a stronghold of support for exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, destroying about 200 dwellings Monday. A private radio station reported 10 people dead. Stunned residents of the Cite Soleil slum said the blaze was set by members of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, which supports the military that ousted Aristide in a 1991 coup. But the group denied responsibility.

Fire gutted the offices of Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council shortly after it rejected the candidacies of 12 presidential hopefuls, several of whom had ties to the former Duvalier dictatorship. A fire also destroyed the department store of a council member, and shots were reportedly fired at the office of an anti-Duvalier candidate, at the house and car of a member of the Constituent Assembly and at an election council office in nearby Delmas. A guard at the council office was wounded.

Waves of violence that left at least one person dead and scores injured swept through Port-au-Prince on Monday, apparently aimed at disrupting next Sunday's planned presidential election, Haiti's first in 30 years. An elderly man was clubbed to death early in the morning by a gang of arsonists who chased sleeping food-sellers out of the capital city's third-largest covered market, injuring dozens of them, before spreading gasoline and burning the 90-year-old Salomon Market to the ground.

Waves of violence that left at least one person dead and scores injured swept through Port-au-Prince on Monday, apparently aimed at disrupting next Sunday's planned presidential election, Haiti's first in 30 years. An elderly man was clubbed to death early in the morning by a gang of arsonists who chased sleeping food-sellers out of the capital city's third-largest covered market, injuring dozens of them, before spreading gasoline and burning the 90-year-old Salomon Market to the ground.

Members of Haiti's Electoral Council are considering postponing the Nov. 29 national election after an arson fire destroyed the presses and tons of paper used to produce the ballots. "The lack of ballots because of the destruction of the Le Natal (printing company) could delay elections," council member Alain Rocourt said. Council members said the panel will announce its decision Saturday on whether the elections can be held as scheduled.

Fire gutted the offices of Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council shortly after it rejected the candidacies of 12 presidential hopefuls, several of whom had ties to the former Duvalier dictatorship. A fire also destroyed the department store of a council member, and shots were reportedly fired at the office of an anti-Duvalier candidate, at the house and car of a member of the Constituent Assembly and at an election council office in nearby Delmas. A guard at the council office was wounded.