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UN police officer shot dead as violence flares in Haiti

A UN police officer was dragged from his car and shot dead as violence flared in Haiti's capital following the dismissal of the country's prime minister and the announcement of a plan to slash the price of rice.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:08 April 14, 2008
  • Gulf News

Haiti: A UN police officer was dragged from his car and shot dead as violence flared in Haiti's capital following the dismissal of the country's prime minister and the announcement of a plan to slash the price of rice.

Haiti's government had hoped that the rice subsidy and Parliament's firing of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis on Saturday would defuse rage over rising the food prices that had produced days of deadly rioting and looting.

But later on Saturday, a Nigerian UN officer bringing food to his unit was pulled from a car and killed execution style with a gunshot to his neck in Port-au-Prince, UN officials said.

Nagya Aminu, 36, drove a marked UN vehicle into a crowded clothing market near the cathedral when he was attacked, UN police spokesman Fred Blaise said.

The incident is the first execution-style killing of a UN peacekeeper since the mission came to Haiti in 2004, Blaise said.

Two Haitian men were detained for questioning, including a local television journalist who was covering the incident.

When Associated Press reporters arrived at the scene shortly after, several market stalls on both sides of the street were on fire.

Preval had announced a more than 15 per cent cut in the price of rice, lowering the cost of a 50-pound bag from $51 to $43.

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