PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Gunmen opened fire on Brazilian UN peacekeeping soldiers in Haiti yesterday, when the troops attempted to clear trash-filled streets in a gang-ruled slum, an official said.

Nobody was injured in the pre-dawn incident when 450 Brazilian soldiers rolled into the downtown St Martin neighbourhood of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Their mission was to clear out the charred remains of automobiles and heaps of trash that had barricaded the streets for months, said Lieutenant Colonel Luciano Puchalski, a Brazilian battalion commander.

Gunmen shot at the troops and the Brazilians returned fire, Puchalski said. Haitian police detained nine men seen on rooftops during the shootout, but no weapons were seized, officials said.

Brazilian troops, who eventually removed the debris from the streets, have been patrolling the nearby Bel-Air slum every day since October. They have been unable to patrol St Martin because of the barricades. Brazil, with 1,200 troops, has the largest contingent in the 7,400-member UN force.

Residents spoke to The Associated Press but refused to give their names, fearing reprisals. "It's good they are clearing the trash, but if they don't patrol, no cars will ever use this road. It's the gangsters who run the neighbourhood," said a 34 year-old mechanic.

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