Haiti's top gang leader threatens politicians as fires break out in capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -A powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would take part in a planned transition council, as fires broke out amid a fresh surge of violence in the capital.

After unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Monday he would step down once the council was in place, the capital was initially quieter but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of late Wednesday, with a shootout in one neighborhood and an attack on the police academy early on Thursday.

A fire broke out at the main penitentiary, emptied of prisoners by armed men earlier this month. Thick black smoke earlier billowed out from the facility, but the fire appeared to be under control by Thursday afternoon. Reuters could not immediately establish if any people had remained in the jail or what sparked the blaze.

A police union said the national police chief Frantz Elbe's house had also been set on fire on Thursday. It did not say whether anyone had been hurt or give details on Elbe's whereabouts.

The Caribbean country is struggling to resolve a long-running political and humanitarian crisis. Heavily-armed gangs have taken over much of the capital, and rights groups have reported widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

The comments from gang alliance head Jimmy "Barbeque" Cherizier were recorded on Wednesday and distributed via a rambling 7-minute audio message widely shared on Thursday morning on messaging platform WhatsApp.

"Don't you have any shame?" said Cherizier, directing his remarks at politicians who he said were looking to join the council. "You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen," he added.

"I'll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti ... if your husbands are in Haiti," he said in an apparent threat to their families. "If you're gonna run the country all your family ought to be there."

In his remarks, Cherizier said the resignation of Henry was only "a first step in the battle" for the island nation of around 11 million.

Regional bloc CARICOM has detailed the political parties and other social sectors set to make up the nine-member transition council that will take over from the unelected Henry. Negotiations over the council were brokered by Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but formal appointments are yet to be made.

EMBASSY REDUCTIONS

With Haiti's political future in limbo and the timing of a long-delayed Kenyan-led security mission unclear, the already sparse international presence in Haiti has been further receding.

Canada announced a reduction to its embassy staff that will leave only essential employees in the country, and said the embassy was temporarily closed to the public. The move follows similar drawdowns by the United Nations and at the U.S. embassy in recent days.

Meanwhile, major passenger cruise line Royal Caribbean Group said it had suspended for a week its regular visits to Labadee, its private resort in northern Haiti, in a decision the company said was made in "an abundance of caution."

Fearing a spread of instability in the region, Britain said it was bolstering security in the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas territory, as did Florida's governor in the U.S. state. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, closed the shared border last year and has regularly deported Haitians.

Aid group Mercy Corps said Port-au-Prince residents were being reduced to "forced nomads," seeking refuge from shootings in temporary shelters with family or strangers and battling constant uncertainty, food shortages, trauma, illness and overcrowding.

Gina Antoine, a 43-year-old pregnant mother-of-three, told the group she was exhausted from moving between neighborhoods and could not run anymore.

"We face inhumane situations daily, walking among corpses. Gangs can attack at any moment," she said. "I have nowhere else to go. I wish everything could return to normal."

(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Writing by David Alire Garcia and Sarah Morland; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -A powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would take part in a planned transition council, as fires broke out amid a fresh surge of violence in the capital.