PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Protesters who hold Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers responsible for a deadly outbreak of cholera that has killed 1 000 in three weeks threw stones and threatened to set fire to a base in the country’s second-largest city yesterday, Haitian radio and eyewitnesses reported.
The protesters also blame the unit for the death of a Haitian youth at the base in August.
The demonstrations began in Cap-Haitien about 6 a.m. and have paralysed much of the northern port city, national television reporter Johnny Joseph said.
Demonstrators are also targeting other UN bases and Haitian national police stations in the city, he said.
UN police spokesman Andre Leclerc said the demonstrators blocked traffic in the area.
Radio Kiskeya and Radio Caraibes reported that UN soldiers and Haitian police fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse at least 1 000 protesters at the Nepalese base. Joseph said at least three people were injured by Haitian police.
A case of cholera had never before been documented in Haiti, and fear and confusion is following its destructive path. President Rene Preval addressed the nation on Sunday to dispel myths and educate people on good sanitation and hygiene.. (AP)
