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Flights to Haiti Suspended 11/13 07:03
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration prohibited
U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot three planes
and the United Nations also Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to
Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.
Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land in the capital
Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down.
Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting
the interior of a plane.
On Tuesday, JetBlue and American Airlines announced that postflight
inspections found their planes also had been shot Monday while departing
Port-au-Prince. American suspended flights to the capital until Feb. 12.
The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country
plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically
tumultuous process.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes
and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence
Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until Nov. 18, and
Dujarric said the U.N. will divert flights to the country's second airport in
the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Hatien.
Slashed access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely
to be devastating as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed
Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would
mean "limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the
country."
Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the
south had been postponed and an operation providing cash assistance to a
thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be
canceled.
"We are doing all we can to ensure the continuation of operations amidst
this challenging environment," he said. "We call for an end to the escalating
violence, to allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access."
On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti's capital was frozen after the wave of
violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked
trucks used for public transportation passing by.
Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. Streets, where
just a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were
eerily empty, with few driving by other than a motorcycle with a man who had
been shot clinging to the back.
The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the
afternoon -- a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti's elites
and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the
country's toxic slate of gangs kept its firm hold on much of the Caribbean
nation.
The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital,
Port-au-Prince. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang
violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a
U.N. peacekeeping mission.
President Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border
with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence,
describing the shooting a "terrorist act".
On Tuesday, a transitional council established in April to restore
democratic order to Haiti also condemned the violence.
"This cowardly crime, which threatens Haiti's sovereignty and security, aims
to isolate our country on the international stage. The perpetrators of these
heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice," the council wrote in
a statement.
The council has taken sharp criticism from many in Haiti who contend that
its political fights and corruption allegations against three members created
the political instability, allowing gangs to make violent power grabs like the
one seen Monday.
That came to a head over the weekend, when it fired former interim Prime
Minister Garry Conille -- long at odds with the council. They replaced him with
businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aim, who was inaugurated Monday surrounded by
suit-clad officials and diplomats while gangs terrorized the capital around
them.
Neither Fils-Aim or Conille have commented on the wave of violence.
Conille originally called the council's move illegal, but on Tuesday
acknowledged Fils-Aim's appointment in a post on the social media platform X.
"(I) wish him success in fulfilling this mission. At this crucial moment,
unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!" he wrote.
Fils-Aim promised to work with international partners to restore peace and hold
long awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.
But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little taste
for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to
continue expanding their control.
Jean-Pierre was among those to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince on
Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a
basket on her head. She had no choice, she said -- selling was the only way she
could feed her children.
"What good is a new prime minister if there's no security, if I can't move
freely and sell my goods?" she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. "This
is my bank account. This is what my family depend on."
It was a frustration that concerned international players like the U.N. and
the U.S. that have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti.
On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department lamented that Conille and the council
"were unable to move forward in a constructive manner" and called on Fils-Aim
and the council to provide a clear action plan outlining a joint vision on how
to decrease violence and pave the path for elections to be held to "prevent
further gridlock."
"The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the
transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal
interests of political actors," it wrote in a statement.
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