500 escape custody in Haiti prison

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Scores of prisoners were believed to be at large yesterday, among nearly 500 freed in an armed attack on Haiti’s national penitentiary that left one guard dead. Allies of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aris-tide rushed to a secure location were returned to the prison yesterday. Police told UN officials that 481 of about 1,150 inmates had escaped in Saturday’s jailbreak and it was unclear how many had been recaptured, Damian Onses-Cardona, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission, told The Associated Press.

He said prison guards had rushed former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert from the prison to a secret location when the attack occurred and inmates began rioting. The two were turned over to UN soldiers later on Saturday. “They were taken back to prison in UN vehicles,” said Onses-Cardona. “They insisted on returning to make clear they didn’t try to escape.” Chilean Ambassador Marcel Young denied reports that the two men had escaped and tried to ask for asylum from foreign embassies before being recaptured.

Young said he met with them Saturday and “They were only concerned about their security. Once that was arranged, they asked to go back to the prison.” Onses-Cardona said authorities were investigating whether the attack was aimed at freeing Neptune and Privert. They are among dozens of Aristide officials and supporters detained since Haiti’s leader fled the country amid a three-week rebellion nearly a year ago. None have been formally charged. Neptune and Privert are accused of orchestrating killings of Aristide opponents during a rebellion in the western town of Saint-Marc. Both men have said they are innocent.

Witnesses said the attack began when three or four men dressed in black and armed with assault rifles drove up to the prison in a jeep and began firing into the air Saturday afternoon, touching off a brief gunbattle with guards. At least one guard was killed, said police spokeswoman Gessy Coicou. The wall of the prison, which is in downtown Port-au-Prince just behind the presidential National Palace, was pockmarked with several bullet holes and the pavement was littered with spent ammunition.

In December, gunmen opened fire outside the prison and inmates living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions rioted. Prison authorities said seven prisoners were killed by other inmates, but one witness who escaped in the confusion charged  that guards had killed some prisoners. Violence has persisted in Haiti’s capital despite the presence of a 7,400-member UN peacekeeping force in the Caribbean nation and more can be expected as Aristide partisans prepare to mark the February 29 anniversary of his flight from the country. More than 250 people have died in clashes since September when Aristide supporters stepped up calls for his return from exile in South Africa.