Haiti's prime minister warned Tuesday of an impending coup and appealed for international help to contend with a bloody uprising that has claimed 57 lives. But the United States and France expressed reluctance to send troops to put down the rebellion.
| Why bother getting somebody hurt, when we know the same thing's gonna happen all over again in a few years? |
Aid agencies called for urgent international action, warning Haiti is on "the verge of a generalized civil war."
The U.N. refugee agency met with officials in Washington to discuss how to confront a feared exodus of Haitians. On Tuesday, airlines in Port-au-Prince canceled flights to the northern port of Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, after witnesses in the barricaded city saw a boat approach and rumors swept the town that rebels were about to attack.
In the western port of St. Marc, an American missionary said his life has been threatened by supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
| That's their style. That's why they're having the current civil war, isn't it? |
"We are witnessing the coup d'etat machine in motion," Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said Tuesday, urging the international community "to show it really wants peace and stability."
| Oh, we do. That's why we're staying as far from Haiti as possible. |
Haiti's 5,000-member police force appears unable to stem the revolt, but Aristide and Neptune stopped short of asking for military intervention.
| They're pretty good at slapping missionaries around, though. |
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday "there is frankly no enthusiasm right now for sending in military or police forces to put down the violence."
| "Maybe we can talk to any survivors, if they have anything to say." |
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