Haitian police opened fire on peaceful protesters yesterday, killing two, wounding others and scattering an estimated 2,000 people marching through the capital to mark the first anniversary of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster.

The shootings, witnessed by U.N. peacekeepers and foreign journalists, lend critics of the new government a powerful piece of evidence to back their allegations that police are persecuting Aristide supporters.

"I am not aware of any shots fired at the police," said Brazilian Navy Cmdr. Carlos Chagas Braga, second in command of the peacekeepers. "Everything was going peacefully. ... We don't know why they came to disband the demonstration."

Peacekeepers, whose orders are to support the police, stood by as the attack occurred. The police quickly disappeared, leaving the bodies on the street.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tajik leader's party wins tainted election

The party of strongman President Emomali Rakhmonov appeared to win an easy victory in weekend parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic, but opposition parties yesterday alleged systematic vote-rigging and other breaches

The Central Election Commission said Rakhmonov's National Democratic Party had won about 80 percent of the vote in Sunday's election. All four opposition and one pro-government party accused authorities of intimidating voters, allowing multiple voting and ballot-box stuffing. They demanded that the election results be tossed out and officials responsible for violations be punished.

Bujumbura, Burundi

Ballot to cement Hutu rule in Burundi

Burundians voted overwhelmingly yesterday for a new constitution to enshrine Hutu control of the government after decades of minority Tutsi dominance.

Officials in the central African nation of 6 million reported more than 90 percent approval for the power-sharing constitution that reserves 60 percent of seats in government and parliament for Hutus and 40 percent for Tutsis, who have dominated politics since Burundi's independence from Belgium in 1962.

The referendum and elections are part of a peace process to end the 11-year war between the Tutsi-dominated army and rebels from the Hutu majority. More than 260,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

More than 260,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

The Hague, Netherlands

Bosnians surrender to war-crimes court

The wartime commander of Bosnia's Muslim army, Rasim Delic, and former Bosnian Serb general Radivoje Miletic surrendered to the U.N. war-crimes tribunal yesterday to face charges for their actions during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Delic, considered responsible for war crimes by foreign fighters under his command, got a rousing send-off from government officials and hundreds of war veterans in Sarajevo before boarding his plane to The Hague.

In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Miletic boarded a plane with no fanfare. He is the fourth aide of fugitive wartime commander Ratko Mladic to surrender, fueling speculation they might give clues to his whereabouts. Miletic was indicted on charges of ethnic cleansing of Muslim men and boys in the U.N.-designated "safe areas" in 1995.

Yokohama, Japan

Sailors discharged for using drugs

Fourteen crew members on the U.S. guided missile cruiser Chancellorsville have been punished for using illegal drugs — ecstasy, stimulants, marijuana and cocaine — at Yokosuka Naval Base, the Navy said yesterday.

According to sources close to the case, the Navy carried out surprise drug testing at the naval base last summer. In the next six months, 13 Chancellorsville crew members were discharged from the Navy and another will face a court-martial on charges of selling drugs.

London

"Shoe bomber" crony tells of second target

"Shoe bomber" Richard Reid had planned with an accomplice to bring down two airliners at the same time, a London court was told yesterday when the accomplice, Saajid Badat, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use an explosive device identical to Reid's.

Reid failed in his bid to blow up an American Airlines plane en route to Miami from Paris on Dec. 22, 2001, after passengers and crew overpowered him as he tried to ignite explosives in his shoe. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2003.

Prosecutors said Badat had been given an explosive device in Afghanistan that matched Reid's but backed out after buying a ticket to fly from Manchester, England, to Amsterdam.

Cancún, Mexico

27 police officers face drug, murder charges

Prosecutors said yesterday they have charged 27 state, federal and local police in Cancún with running a drug ring or aiding in the murder of fellow officers.

Eight were charged in connection with the slayings of three federal agents and two civilians whose bullet-ridden bodies were found Nov. 25.