Gunmen burned tires and robbed food from markets in Port-au-Prince as unrest spread over storm-hit and flood-ravaged Haiti, killing about a dozen people, reports from the Haitian capital said on Sunday.

Witnesses said gunfire erupted in a garbage-strewn slum where supporters of former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide gathered. Some men burned tires on the street and some others even stole food from shops. No casualties have been reported.

The clash came just one day after Haitian police stormed a radio station and arrested the country's Senate President Yvon Fuille and two other members of the Lavalas Family Party, a pro-Aristide political group.

They were arrested in connection with the violence which broke out on Thursday during a pro-Aristide demonstration to demand Aristide's return, said the government. Three policemen and a dozen other people were killed during the clashes.

But the arrested protested their innocence. Fuille denied his involvement in the violence and said he enjoys immunity under the country's constitution

As security deteriorated in the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is still struggling to deal with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Jeanne which hit the country two weeks ago and left more than 1,500 dead and thousands homeless.

Haiti suffered three weeks of civil tumult in February, in which about 300 were killed and Aristide was ousted.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2004)