A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

HAITI: Protesters retreat but warn government needs to reduce prices or face more chaos

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Peacekeepers cleared roadblocks and businesses reopened in Haiti's debris-littered capital Thursday, but protesters warned that chaos will return quickly if the government fails to rein in soaring food prices.

Three days of protests and looting in the capital brought a swift political response, with 17 of Haiti's 27 senators calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Protesters said President Rene Preval should be replaced as well if he does not find a solution.

"If you can't take care of the country, you are like a leaf and you should fall," said Fortune Metilien, a 42-year-old garbage collector.

Metilien and many of the other protesters carried tree branches to symbolize their support for former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who has vowed to return since a 2004 revolt sent him into exile in South Africa. Many demonstrators sang a popular song that includes the refrain: "If Aristide were here, it wouldn't be like this."

And some people in the Cite Soleil slum, a bastion of Aristide support, said envoys of the Aristide-aligned Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste visited Monday and told them to protest peacefully.

But while some blamed Aristide supporters, others attributed the protests to drug smugglers bent on creating chaos. The unrest began last week in Les Cayes, the base of fugitive rebel leader Guy Philippe who is wanted in the U.S. on drug-smuggling charges. Five people died there.

Haiti is particularly affected by the rising prices because people are so poor, and almost all their money goes into buying food.

Preval, in his first public comments since the unrest began, pledged Wednesday to help farmers and appealed for a halt to the violence.

GUANTANAMO: Alleged al-Qaida accountant praises bin Laden, refuses lawyer

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A Sudanese man held at this remote base as an alleged accountant and operative for al-Qaida said Thursday he would not attend his war crimes trial, joining a growing list of prisoners who refuse to take part in the U.S. military tribunals.

Ibrahim al-Qosi told a military judge in a pretrial hearing that he did not want a lawyer and would not attend future hearings because he did not consider the court legitimate.

"I do not recognize the justice or the lawfulness of this court," al-Qosi said when the judge tried to explain his rights to an attorney appointed by the government.

He is the third detainee this year, and the second this week, to snub the military tribunals at Guantanamo, offering a potential preview of future court sessions as the U.S. attempts to prosecute dozens of men held at its high-security Navy base in southeast Cuba.

The chief prosecutor for the tribunals, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said the boycotts would not derail the tribunals.

"All we can do is make sure that from the government's standpoint the process runs appropriately," Morris told reporters.

The hearing for al-Qosi, 47, was supposed to be an arraignment on charges of conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, but he did not enter a plea.

Instead, he read a prepared statement to explain his reasons for choosing not to participate in the legal proceedings against him, part of the first U.S. military tribunals since the World War II era.

Al-Qosi, speaking in Arabic through a translator, praised the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a success for bin Laden, saying the terrorist leader "succeeded again enormously in exposing your hypocrisy."

GUANTANAMO: US seizes 'Lord of the Rings' script from Canadian held at Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — Guards have confiscated a "Lord of the Rings" movie screenplay from a former child soldier awaiting trial at Guantanamo, his lawyer and U.S. officials said Thursday.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, the military-appointed attorney for Canadian Omar Khadr, told reporters he gave the detainee the script to build trust.

In addition to seizing the screenplay, the military said he could no longer play dominos and chess during visits with Khadr, who was 15 when he was captured by the U.S. military in 2002.

Kuebler said the games and the screenplay are essential to his ability to defend his client: "There is an enormous challenge to building a rapport."

Khadr faces a war crimes trial later this year on charges including murder for allegedly killing a U.S. special forces soldier, Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with a grenade during a firefight at an isolated compound near Khost, Afghanistan.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

Guantanamo officials issued a statement that guards found the screenplay along with other unapproved items, including news articles from the Internet, mixed with legal papers that the prisoner is allowed to keep.

"The Lord of the Rings screenplay has been returned to ... Kuebler as a violation of the prohibition against providing detainees materials that are not directly related to his representation of his client," the military said.

A spokesman for the detention center, Army Lt. Col. Ed Bush, said all three installments of the book version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy are available to prisoners.

JAMAICA: Police say chief of troubled investment firm arrested in fraud probe

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Police say they have arrested the head of a problem-plagued investment company for allegedly defrauding thousands of investors of their savings in this poor Caribbean country.

Assistant Police Commissioner Les Green said the chief of investment firm Cash Plus Ltd, Carlos Hill, was arrested at his home earlier Thursday in St. Andrew parish. He said Jamaican police raided nine of Hill's island properties, seizing assets including cars and computers.

Kevin Bandoian, a receiver appointed by government regulators, told the Jamaica Gleaner that Cash Plus has not secured money to pay back investors by an April 14 deadline. It is not clear if repayments by the troubled company can ever be made, the Gleaner reported.

MARTINIQUE: Martinique poet, human rights leader undergoes medical tests

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) — Poet and elder statesman Aime Cesaire has been hospitalized for unknown reasons in the capital of Martinique.

Fort-de-France mayor Serge Letchimy said in a statement Thursday that Cesaire is undergoing several medical tests without providing further details.

The 94-year-old Cesaire has been a key figure in the fight for French West Indian rights, and he served as a deputy in the lower house of France's parliament for nearly 50 years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy last year helped change the name of Martinique's airport in honor of Cesaire.

CRICKET: West Indies beats Sri Lanka in 1st ODI on last ball

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit the last two balls for a four and six to swing West Indies to a thrilling one-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the opening one-day international on Thursday.

Chanderpaul lashed an unbeaten 62 off 63 balls to guide the home team to 236 for nine off 50 overs at Queen's Park Oval. Sri Lanka made 235-7 on the back of a career-best 95 from Chamara Kapugedera.

Sri Lanka was on target for victory in the last over when veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas conceded just three runs from the first four balls with West Indies needing 13 runs.

But Chanderpaul fashioned a remarkable finish by smacking a four past mid-off from the penultimate delivery. The 33-year-old then swung a low full toss over midwicket, just clearing Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene on the rope to send a crowd of 13,000 into a frenzy.

"I don't know what to say at this particular time," West Indies captain Chris Gayle said. "There were a few heart failures but Shiv took it home there in the end."

West Indies' reply began positively through Gayle, who made a gritty 52 off 81 balls.

Gayle shared partnerships of 53 with Devon Smith and 56 with Ramnaresh Sarwan to give his side the initiative at 109-1 in the 27th over.

But debutant spinner Ajantha Mendis and seamer Nuwan Kulasekara turned the match around, taking three wickets for one run.

Mendis, who took three for 39, claimed Gayle to a lbw verdict while Kulasekara removed Sarwan for 35 and Marlon Samuels for a first-ball duck.