| Heavy gunfire has been heard around Haiti's presidential palace, where US Secretary of State Colin Powell was holding talks at the time. The government blamed supporters of the former President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, for the shooting. UN forces returned fire. It is not clear if there were any injuries. Mr Powell is on a one-day visit to help promote political stability. He was also due to meet young Haitians living with HIV, to mark World Aids Day. The BBC's Hannah Hennessy, in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said the gunfire came in three or four bursts over a 15-minute period. In recent months, renewed violence between government forces and supporters of Mr Aristide has claimed dozens of lives. Mr Powell was holding talks with caretaker Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and other key figures during Wednesday's gunfire. A US state department official said talks scheduled for later in the day would be relocated because of the shooting. It is Mr Powell's second visit to Haiti this year, following a previous one-day visit in April. On that occasion, he became the first senior US official to visit since the three-week rebellion that ousted Mr Aristide in February. Mr Aristide has repeatedly accused the US and France of forcing him into exile. But the US and France insist that Mr Aristide agreed to leave the country voluntarily, and signed a letter of resignation. |