Haitian rebel leader killed in clash with police

One of the leaders of an ex-soldier rebel group that ousted Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year was killed in a police operation on Saturday.

Remissainthe Ravix, hunted by police for months in connection with the killing of four police officers, was killed along with three of his colleagues in a shoot-out with police in Port-au-Prince, police said.

Ravix was one of the leaders of the armed revolt that forced Aristide into exile on Feb. 29 last year.

Relations between the rebels and the new government led by interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue were initially good but soured later over demand by Ravix and other members of the ex-military for the re-establishment of the army. The military was dismissed by Aristide in 1995.

Police and the ex-military forces began clashing in the early afternoon of Saturday in Delmas, with gunfire and some huge blasts rattling the district.

"We chased them from 75 to 30 Delmas (street) where they were brought down," police general direct Leonce Charles was quoted as saying by local reports.

The police chief said UN peacekeepers and the Haitian police have intensified security measures along major highways leading to Port-au-Prince to prevent possible retaliation by Ravix's supporters.

Former soldiers loyal to Ravix, who are still active in several parts of the impoverished Caribbean country, have warned they would take action if the Haitian police arrested or killed Ravix.

Some 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops and 1,400 UN police are deployed in Haiti to help stabilize the country ahead of the elections scheduled for October and November.