Haiti violence threatens food aid

Parts of Port-au-Prince have been wracked with violence for days

Three people have been killed in Haiti, in violence involving radical supporters of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Witnesses said a former soldier was decapitated in one district of the capital Port-au-Prince, and two other people were killed elsewhere.

The number of people killed since the unrest started last week is now put at 13, most of them police officers.

The violence has threatened to disrupt United Nations food aid supplies.

Haiti has been devastated by floods and landslides caused by tropical storm Jeanne last month.

At least 1,970 people are thought to have died, with 884 still missing, officials say. Thousands more have been left homeless.

Gunshots

There were reports of gunshots on Wednesday morning as UN helicopters and Haitian police in armoured personnel carriers moved into a downtown slum taken over by supporters of the ousted president.

Nearly 2,500 tons of food aid earmarked for distribution in the badly-hit town of Gonaives is blocked in port in the capital because customs agents and dock loaders are too frightened to report for work, relief workers told the Associated Press news agency.

"This threatens to paralyse all the humanitarian efforts we have in Gonaives. It's extremely serious," Anne Poulsen of the UN World Food Programme said.

"No-one can afford to leave people in Gonaives without food even for a day or two," she added.

'Operation Baghdad'

The interim Haitian Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue, says Aristide loyalists are using deliberately brutal tactics as part of a campaign targeting policemen which they have called Operation Baghdad, in an apparent reference to violence there.

Justice Minister Bernard Gousse called on Tuesday for the US to end its arms embargo on Haiti.

"We ask that the proper means be given to us so that the battle is not unequal," he said.

Mr Aristide's supporters say the security forces are to blame for the violence.

There is a desperate need for food aid in Gonaives

Three politicians are still in custody being questioned about the death of three policemen last week, reports say.

The Senate President, Yvon Fuille, and two other supporters of ousted President Aristide deny involvement in the killing and beheading of the men.

The policemen are believed to have been killed during violent rallies in support of Mr Aristide's return from his exile in South Africa.

Mr Aristide, who was flown out of the island following a revolt in February, claims he was taken against his will by US agents.