PORT-AU-PRINCE — US troops descended by helicopter to take control of Haiti's ruined presidential palace Tuesday, AFP reporters saw, as the military earthquake relief operation gathered pace.
Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne division arrived in at least four choppers to secure the executive mansion, a once elegant white building in the devastated city center, now surrounded by a vast refugee camp.
From the palace, a 100-strong infantry company headed on foot to the city's general hospital, swamped with injured left behind by last week's catastrophic earthquake, which the Haitian government says killed at least 70,000.
"We are here to provide security to the hospital. We work with the government of Haiti. We have rules of engagement, but we are on a humanitarian mission," Sergeant Bill Smith told AFP.
The arrival was the most spectacular deployment so far in the US military's operation to bring relief to Port-au-Prince, but was not welcomed by some in the crowd who saw the arrival as an affront to Haitian sovereignty.
"I haven't seen the Americans in the streets giving out water and food, but now they come to the palace," said Wilson Guillaume, as some of the homeless living rough in the Champ de Mars square before the palace shouted abuse.
"It's an occupation. The palace is our power, our face, our pride," said Feodor Desanges.
While most Haitians have welcomed the international intervention, there is mounting frustration as what many see as the slow pace of moves to provide food and shelter to the homeless, and looting has broken out.
While army paratroopers took charge of key downtown sites, Marines were landing southwest of the city to link up with UN peacekeepers and prepare to land a larger flow of troops and equipment, a US military official said.
Source:AFP
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