AHP  News - English Translation in the form of extended headlines for December 15 through 22, 2006 (Unofficial)
For complete articles in the official French version, please see www.ahphaiti.org. 

Extended headlines for December 22, 2006 :

* National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL) launches "a real bridge to a virtual world", aimed at helping Haitians buy and sell over the Internet. CONATEL also announces plans to meet with a cell phone company regarding the alleged poor quality of its services, and to propose new regulatory legislation 
AHP Dec. 22, 2006 1:40 PM
  
* UN Operation in Cite Soleil leaves at least 10 killed, dozens others  injured during the night of Thursday December 21. UN spokesperson de Lacombe claims the operation was aimed at apprehending kidnappers in Bois Neuf and bringing them to justice. However local residents say the victims were ordinary citizens whose only crime was that they live in the targeted neighborhood. Detonations could be heard for miles. De Lacombe denies that a UN armored vehicle was seized by bandits.

 Some radio stations in the capital have been justifying the attack in Cite Soleil by the fact that local residents had set fire to a UN tank that had been abandoned by UN soldiers who had fled. 
In addition to the dead and injured, residents report very serious property damage and there are concerns that a critical water shortage may now develop because water cisterns and pipes were punctured by the gunfire. 

The UN attack follows heavy pressure on the government and the UN to conduct heavy weapons operations in this district, which has been identified by certain sectors as the sole bastion of the kidnappers. 
On Wednesday, December 20, Haitian police, assisted by MINUSTAH soldiers violently clamped down on hundreds of demonstrators who were outraged over a police officer caught in the act of carrying out a kidnapping and who is a member of the anti-narcotics unit, and were demanding that the officer be turned over to them.

Many see the MINUSTAH operation as an attempt to appease sectors calling for the UN to leave Haiti, such as students who were considered to be the spearhead of the 2003/2004 anti-Aristide GNB campaign, who are now preparing to take to the streets once again.  

During their most recent demonstrations, some of these students attacked UN soldiers, smashing windshields on some of their vehicles. 

Many suspect, however, that these new demonstrations are not necessarily aimed at MINUSTAH, because it was the government put in office through the efforts of the GNB movement that originally asked for the UN presence in Haiti. The real objective of these students now, who are not working alone, according to some diplomats stationed in Port-au-Prince, is instead the creation of a situation that could force the prime minister to step down.  
AHP Dec. 22, 2006 12:00 PM

(Translator's note: the MINUSTAH website contains a press release describing a joint MINUSTAH/PNH operation conducted at dawn on December 22 in Bois Neuf and Drouillard as an anti-kidnapping operation also designed to re-open the main road leading to Bois Neuf, labeled as the "fiefdom of the Belony gang".
The press release notes that an exchange of gunfire occurred for several hours and that there were no casualties among MINUSTAH or PNH personnel. "It is not yet possible to establish the toll of injuries or deaths of armed gang members", the MINUSTAH website states. The website quotes spokesperson de Lacombe as saying "It is possible that there were injuries or deaths among the criminals or their supporters". 
The MINUSTAH press release also reports that for the entire week, MUNTSAH and the PNH have planned security operations in the "red zones" aimed at arresting kidnappers.)