Violence in Haiti spread to more cities Sunday after anti-government militants announced they had taken control of the country's fourth largest city of Gonaives Friday.   

In Saint Marc, the largest town en route to Gonaives from the capital city of Port-au-Prince, cargo containers were set ablaze after television sets and flour were looted from them. Meanwhile, barricades made of vehicle carcasses, felled trees, and boulders were set up in streets. Police in the town had been forced to withdraw a day before.

Youth gangs with handguns controlled travel to and from Gonaives, where police tried in vain to reclaim control on Saturday.

Police headquarters were also attacked in the cities of Trou de Nord, Listere and Grand Goave.

In Port-au-Prince, barricades of burning tires set up by government supporters on Saturday night forced the postponement of an anti-government protest until Thursday.

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune on Sunday accused opposition groups of trying to mount a coup to overthrow the government. He said that only through elections can the crisis be resolved.

Parliamentary elections failed last year when no electoral body was set up to oversee the polls, leaving the nation without a functioning legislature.

President Jean-Bertran Aristide, the country's first elected president, is accused of election cheat since he was elected in 2000. While his popularity plummeted amid a worsening economy and charges of corruption and poor governance, Aristide has insisted he would hold office until his term expires in 2006.

Aristide said in Havana on Sunday that while he respected the opponents within the government, he could not bear Gonaives and Saint Marc falling into the hands of armed gangs.

Haiti, a country of 8 million people, has suffered repeated civil wars and dictatorships since independence 200 years ago, as well as two US invasions. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)