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Cholera protesters in Haiti capital stone UN patrol

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thursday, 18 November 2010 18:57 GMT

* Anger over cholera epidemic being turned against U.N.

* Anti-U.N. riots hike tensions ahead of Nov. 28 elections

* U.N.: No conclusive evidence cholera from Nepali troops

By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Several hundred protesters stoned a U.N. patrol and yelled anti-U.N. slogans in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday as anger spread over a cholera epidemic that is killing dozens of people every day.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators who blame U.N. peacekeepers for bringing the disease to Haiti, where national elections are to be held on Nov. 28, more than 10 months after a devastating earthquake.

Reports that Nepalese U.N. troops were the source of the raging cholera outbreak have angered many in the Western Hemisphere's poorest state, although the United Nations says there is no conclusive evidence to support this.

A patrol of U.N. blue helmets withdrew hastily after they were pelted with stones by the demonstrators, who also tried to block streets with rocks and debris.

The protesters shouted "MINUSTAH must go" and "MINUSTAH brought cholera to Haiti," referring to the acronym of the U.N. mission in the Caribbean country.

The protest in the heart of the capital followed several days of anti-U.N. riots in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, where at least two people were killed and several dozen injured in clashes between rioters and U.N. troops.

In the north of the country, the violence has badly disrupted U.N.-led international efforts to stem the spread of the cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,110 people and sickened well over 18,000.

It has also raised serious security questions ahead of this month's presidential and legislative elections as U.N. peacekeepers tasked with backing Haitian police increasingly become the target of anger over the epidemic.

Cap-Haitien's airport has been closed since Monday, preventing medical supplies and personnel from being flown in.

Roads there have been blocked by stone-throwing protesters and burning barricades, stopping cholera patients from reaching hospital. A CNN correspondent in Cap-Haitien said one hospital had reported 35 patients with gunshot wounds since Monday.

"How the hell are we going to run a cholera response in the middle of this? You can't control a cholera epidemic if you don't have security and if you can't reach people," a frustrated foreign humanitarian worker told Reuters.

Haiti's northern region is suffering a spike in the cholera epidemic, which has affected six of 10 provinces and compounded the misery of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.

Experts say tens of thousands of Haitians are at risk of infection and death unless they can be treated quickly.

EPIDEMIC SEEN WORSENING

Haiti's President Rene Preval and the U.N. mission have appealed for calm. U.N. officials blame the Cap-Haitien riots on criminals and political agitators they say are seeking to disrupt the elections, which will choose a successor to Preval, a 99-member parliament and 11 members of the 30-seat Senate.

In New York on Thursday, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq was asked about a Swedish media report citing Sweden's ambassador to Haiti saying the source of the cholera outbreak was Nepal.

Haq told reporters the United Nations had no conclusive evidence of a link between U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti and the epidemic. The South Asian strain of cholera in Haiti had been found in many regions outside Asia, he said, and did not necessarily come from the Nepalese peacekeepers.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pan American Health Organization said the epidemic could worsen despite efforts to control it.

Researchers from the organizations said on Thursday the infection, from a cholera bacteria strain previously found in countries in South Asia and elsewhere, was part of a 49-year-old global pandemic and was likely brought to Haiti by a single infected person. [ID:nN18296098]

In Port-au-Prince, the stone-throwing protesters fought running skirmishes with riot police and tear gas wafted into a nearby camp of earthquake survivors, affecting its occupants.

"Haiti is a sovereign country. Our ancestors fought and died to give us freedom and this piece of land. We don't want any occupiers here, particularly when they are contaminating the Haitian people with cholera," Jose Merilien, an organizer of Thursday's protest, told Reuters.

The spreading epidemic has also triggered a health emergency in Dominican Republic, Haiti's eastern neighbor on the island of Hispaniola. Dominican authorities have tightened restrictions on the entry of Haitians and temporarily suspended the hiring of Haitian workers.

Health officials in Florida have reported one confirmed case of cholera -- a resident who had visited family in Haiti -- but officials say good sanitary conditions mean the risk of a U.S. outbreak is minimal. (Additional reporting by Maggie Fox in Washington, Lou Charbonneau in New York, Manuel Jimenez in Santo Domingo; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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