Haiti Settles After Duvalier Escape

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--After two nights of wild rejoicing and mob retaliation against the hated secret police of the ousted Duvalier regime, life began returning to normal yesterday in this slum-ridden city of one million people.

Trashed, burned-out shells of businesses that were associated with the 28 years of Duvalier family rule bore silent witness to a celebration that turned violent, killing at least 100 people and causing great material damage.

Jean-Claude Duvalier became Haiti's "President-for-life" in 1971 at age 19 on the death of his father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. He fled to France on Friday on a U.S. Air Force plane with about 25 family members, guards and associates after the United States and Jamaica convinced him to step down in the face of mounting violence.

A military-civilian council assumed interim control.

Duvalier's departure sparked riots and revenge killing against the Tonton Macoutes, the Duvalier dynasty's dreaded private militia.

Reporters said Macoutes were beaten and hacked to death with machetes Friday and Saturday.

At least 100 bodies were seen stacked in a morgue at General Hospital, but how the victims died or when they were brought there could not be determined.

France granted Duvalier and his party temporary refuge while it searched for a country willing to offer them permanent asylum. Several already have refused. The French are expected to approach some of the 25 French-speaking African nations, most of which rely heavily on France for aid and commerce.

The provisional military-civilian council on Saturday announced Haiti's new Cabinet. The Cabinet is expected to issue its first communique today, including a date to reopen schools closed Jan. 8 because of national unrest in this impoverished Caribbean island.

The national government radio yesterday announced that a member of the new Cabinet, Minister of Justice Gerard Gourgue, formerly president of the Haitian Human Rights Commission, had obtained the release of 26 political prisoners. Further details were not immediately available.

Duvalier, long accused of human rights violations, steadfastly held that there were no political prisoners in his jails.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Jeffrey Lite said yesterday that Washington was considering releasing $52 million in foreign aid already approved for Haiti but held up because of the human rights abuses under Duvalier.

Meanwhile, concern grew as food supplies fell in the capital city.

"If farm produce dries up from the countryside and the United States doesn't help out, within a week Port-au-Prince will be in a starvation situation," said George Butler of the Haitian Development Foundation, a private organization that lends money to small businesses.

A 2 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew imposed Friday was lifted yesterday and much of the violence of the previous two days seemed to have subsided.

But troops still fired shots and tear gas over the heads of looters who staggered away from some shops and warehouses heavily laden with food.

The Cabinet announced Saturday included four members of the provisional government of four military men and two civilians, headed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Henri Namphy.