The leader of the gang in Haiti, Ernst Julme, is killed while the transitional council is nearing completion

World news

From Reuters

Attacks, including a shooting that killed a gang leader, erupted in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Thursday as political groups appeared closer to finalizing a transitional council to take over from an absent government .

A police operation killed the leader of the Delmas 95 gang, Ernst Julme, known as Tee Gregg, a day after another gang leader was killed in an apparent revival of justice, police and sources confirmed.

The death of Julme, a member of gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier’s “Viv Ansanm” alliance, marks a setback for the gangs’ efforts to take over more of the city. Julme recently escaped from Haiti’s largest prison in a mass prison break.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed reports that political groups have chosen all members of a transitional council that will take over the presidency ahead of future elections, a UN spokesman said.

The council, designed to unite Haiti’s fractured political class, is tasked with appointing a replacement for Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation on March 11 as gang violence prevented his return to the country.

“The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement that all Haitian stakeholders have nominated representatives to the Transitional Presidential Council,” Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a media briefing.

The transition plan was brokered in Jamaica by the Caribbean Intergovernmental Community (CARICOM), along with representatives of the Haitian government and opposition. CARICOM has published a list of political groups that will be represented in the council.

The nine-member council was expected to be finalized within days of Henry’s resignation, but some Haitian political factions have been unable to unite behind a single representative.

One party rejected the plan, then withdrew, while groups left out of the plan criticized the return of politicians from previous administrations seen as corrupt.

Cherizier threatened reprisals against politicians and their families if they participate in the proposed council.

CONFLICT IN THE SUBURBS

As the council appeared to be winding down, heavy gunfire was heard Thursday near the National Palace off Champs-de-Mars square in downtown Port-au-Prince as people fled the shooting in the capital’s Petion-Ville suburb.

On Wednesday, suspected members of a gang in Petion-Ville that has come under attack in recent days were killed and set on fire – including one leader known as Makandal – in what appeared to be a resurgence of a civilian vigilante movement known as Bwa Kale.

Local media reported another Bwa Kale killing outside the capital on Thursday, although Reuters was unable to confirm this.

The state has been largely absent during the violence and the police are ill-equipped against heavily armed criminal groups seeking to expand their territorial control over the capital.

Plans for an international security mission requested by Henry in 2022 remain frozen.

Haq said the rapid deployment of international forces was critical to improving the political and security situation.

He said the UN would support the restoration of Haiti’s democratic institutions and called for the protection of civilians.

The UN and other international bodies and embassies are evacuating staff and other foreigners by helicopter as Haiti’s main airport is not secured.

The Canadian government said late Thursday that the Canadian Armed Forces were working with the Canadian Embassy in Haiti to help with contingency planning. He did not elaborate, but his statement came in response to reports that Canadian soldiers had been flown in to protect the Canadian embassy.

The U.S. government arranged Thursday for the departure of 90 American citizens from the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien to Miami, as well as from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic, in addition to the 70 that have flown since Sunday, the State Department said the speaker.