Haiti tense after summons issued for ex-president

Haiti tense after summons issued for ex-president
By EVENS SANON, Associated Press | August 14, 2014 | Updated: August 14, 2014 5:49pm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide clashed with U.N. peacekeepers Thursday as the popular former leader faced possible arrest for not providing court-ordered testimony in a criminal investigation.

About 150 Haitians had erected barricades of stones and burning tires outside Aristide's home in Port-au-Prince to prevent any attempt to arrest him, keeping traffic at bay along the busy street largely without incident much of the day.

But some demonstrators pelted an SUV carrying U.N. personnel with stones, forcing the occupants to flee into a nearby home. They were subsequently rescued by peacekeeping troops, who then cleared the protesters and their barricades using tear gas and armored vehicles.

The source of the tension was a summons issued by investigating magistrate Lamarre Belizaire for testimony from Aristide, whose ouster in February 2004 amid a violent rebellion triggered the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that has been in the country ever since.

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