44 dead in Tivoli siege

KINGSTON – With a death toll at 44 and hundreds detained yesterday, Jamaica security forces are yet to nab their main target – wanted man Christopher “Dudus” Coke – after four days of intense battle in West Kingston.Jamaican police have an arrest warrant for Coke, who is sought  by United States authorities on drug  and arms trafficking charges. According to public defender  Earl Witter, no fewer than 44 Jamaicans were killed in the clashes between security forces and gunmen  in west Kingston.Witter, Political Ombudsman Herro Blair and Jamaica Red Cross officials visited Tivoli Gardens on Tuesday  to conduct an independent assessment  of the operations being carried out  by the security forces.“The police, I gather, have put out  a figure of some 26 dead so far. Our own head count supersedes that. In fact,  we visited the morgue and were told that no fewer than 35 bodies were lodged there, and most of them were males, mainly young adults,” Witter told  The Gleaner late Tuesday night.He said that his information  suggested that the number would rise. Witter also said that  the team did not find any evidence of bodies being  burnt in Tivoli Gardens  to support the allegation.At a Press briefing earlier in the day, the security forces dismissed claims that excessive force was used against residents in Tivoli Gardens. “I could not say if he is in Jamaica,” Information Minister Daryl Vaz said  of Coke. “It’s very difficult to tell.”Despite several sporadic shootings across the Corporate Area between Tuesday night and yesterday,  normality was slowly returning  to downtown Kingston.Director of Aviation Security, Lieutenant Commander John McFarlane, gave an assurance that operations at Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport were running smoothly and normally.“Flight operations are normal here.  A couple of airlines have cancelled their night flights, but the day flights are running normally,” McFarlane told  JIS News. (AP/JS)