ARISTIDE. under increasing pressure to step down

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Calm returned to the streets of Haiti's capital yesterday, a day after bloody clashes broke out between police and protesters on the 200th anniversary of Haitian independence.

As many Haitians resumed daily routines, though, opponents of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped up demands for his resignation, issuing a declaration calling for him to be replaced with a transitional government.

Visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki met on Friday with leading Aristide opponents who boycotted state celebrations marking Haiti's independence from France on January 1, 1804. Some were critical that Mbeki joined the festivities.

MBEKI. criticised for attending celebrations

"His arrival brought oxygen to a dying dictatorship," said businessman Andy Apaid Jr, a prominent Aristide critic. He said Mbeki "should bear some responsibility in following the situation".

The talks came as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a visit to Trinidad and Tobago, said he is encouraging the Caribbean Community to take a greater role in helping Haiti deal with its crisis.

Only one Caribbean head of government, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie, attended ceremonies on behalf of the regional bloc.

Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who met with Annan, said it will be up to Aristide whether the community gets more involved.

At least eight anti-government protesters were injured Thursday in clashes with police who fired tear gas and warning shots. Thousands of Aristide's supporters also rallied around him at commemorative ceremonies.
Mbeki called the Haitian revolution an inspiration and said Africans on both sides of the Atlantic face common challenges of poverty and conflict.

South Africa contributed about 10 million rand (US$1.5 million) towards the US$15 million festivities, which Mbeki's opponents called an unnecessary extravagance but he called fitting.

While the South African leader has sought to fulfill Nelson Mandela's legacy of healing racial divisions and attracting investors, Aristide has been unable to close the political divide or ease crushing poverty.

A day after meeting Aristide, Mbeki told opposition leaders South Africa wouldn't offer to mediate but that he wanted to hear their views, opposition politician Evans Paul said.
"He did not urge the opposition to negotiate with Aristide,"
Paul said, adding Mbeki didn't express a particular position.
More than a dozen foreign delegations attended bicentennial ceremonies, along with dignitaries such as American actor Danny Glover, who on Friday said the events were inspiring but that he was "disappointed and dismayed" at the unrest.
"We would have hoped both sides would have shown some restraint given the importance of this day," Glover told The Associated Press. "The losers in all of this are poor Haitians, people who don't have health care and people who don't have schools."

. Mbeki's helicopter shot at - report

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki's official helicopter has been shot at during independence celebrations in Haiti, the online edition of the BBC quoted a spokesman yesterday.
Mbeki was not present at the time, according to spokesman Bheki Khumalo.

South African Police spokesman Selby Bokaba said the president's security detail did not retaliate and a separate ground team was withdrawn from the area around the north-western port of Gonaives, according to the BBC report.

South Africa donated $1.5 million towards Haiti's independence celebrations and President Mbeki had said his trip to Haiti was an important sign of solidarity with the world's first black-led republic and a step towards cementing ties between Africa and communities of the African diaspora.
But South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance has called Mbeki's trip an expensive fiasco, noting that along with the cash contribution, South Africa had also sent a naval vessel to help safeguard the president.

Haiti, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, became the first black republic when it put an end to slavery and declared independence on January 1, 1804.

Its history has been plagued by violence and in recent times, by tensions between Aristide and his political opponents who accuse the government of corruption and trampling on democratic rights.

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS

Pepper Pot