Marines shoot, kill gunman

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- U.S. Marines shot and killed a gunman during an outbreak of gunfire at a weekend demonstration by Haitians celebrating the ousting of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a spokesman said Monday.\nThe gunfire occurred during an anti-Aristide march Sunday, prompting the Marines to return fire in the first armed action of their week-old mission to stabilize Haiti.\nAt least six other people were killed and more than 30 wounded in the worst bloodshed since Aristide fled Haiti Feb. 29 and U.S. and French peacekeepers arrived. The death toll rose to seven after one of the wounded died overnight.\nChief rebel leader Guy Philippe, who said the attack never would have happened if his men had not been asked to disarm, warned they will take up weapons again if peacekeepers don't force Aristide supporters to put down theirs.\nAlso Monday, Aristide declared from his African exile that he was still president of Haiti and urged "peaceful resistance" in his homeland.\nSunday's demonstration, billed as a "victory march," began with a few hundred people in the capital's Petionville suburb, with Haitian police in the lead. Bringing up the rear were U.S. Marines in five Humvees mounted with machine guns and two truckloads of French troops.\nPro-Aristide militants said they, too, would march, and a confrontation seemed inevitable.\nAs the number of protesters swelled to thousands, the peacekeepers got hemmed in.\nThe marchers ended up on the vast Champs de Mars plaza in front of the National Palace and chanted Aristide stand trial for alleged corruption and killings committed by his armed militants.\nSeveral witnesses said they saw Aristide militants open fire from the roof of the Rex movie theater across the plaza.\nU.S. Marine Col. Charles Gurganus said gunfire broke out on the northeast corner of the plaza and several people were wounded before Marines spotted two gunmen. When the gunmen tried to attack the Marines, the troops shot and killed one of them, he said, adding he did not know what happened to the other man.\nAsked how he knew the man killed was a gunman, Gurganus said, "He had a gun, and he was shooting at Marines. That's what I call a gunman."\nNo Marines were wounded.\nAristide fled under pressure from a popular rebellion and officials from the United States and France and was flown to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on a plane arranged by Washington, D.C.\nIn his first news conference in exile, Aristide insisted he was still president.\n"I am the democratically elected president and I remain so. I plead for the restoration of democracy" in Haiti, Aristide told reporters in Bangui.\nHe also repeated that the United States forced him from power -- allegations that have been denied by Secretary of State Colin Powell and other Bush administration officials.\n"It was in fact a political kidnapping," Aristide said. "This political kidnapping unfortunately opened the road to an occupation."\nHe urged "peaceful resistance."\nThe number of U.S. troops in Haiti increased over the weekend to more than 1,600, including roughly 1,500 Marines, said a defense official in Washington, D.C., speaking on the condition of anonymity.\nAngry survivors of Sunday's violence accused the U.S. and French troops in the peacekeeping force of not preventing the attack.\n"The peacekeepers were nowhere near where the shooting was," said Alma Coastal, 31, who was shot twice in the left shoulder.\nFrench commander Col. Daniel Leplatois defended his troops, saying, "We're not able to secure the lives of all of the demonstrators."\nAristide supporters said they had canceled their march because peacekeepers had not promised the same level of security they gave their opponents. A pro-Aristide rally was instead planned for Monday.\n"The Americans are only here to protect those who helped oust Aristide," said Ednar Ducoste, 23. "If we had guns, we would be fighting against them right now."\nPrime Minister Yvon Neptune said the Marines abided by "rules of engagement (that) permit that they use proportional force."\nNeptune -- an Aristide appointee whom protesters also want tried -- ordered police to "start disarming all who carry illegal weapons."\n-- AP writer Peter Prengaman contributed to this story from Port-au-Prince.