Haitian gangs have ignored an order to disarm

They are defying an order by President Rene Preval to disarm or risk being killed.

Last week the gangs offered to put down their guns this Monday in a public display.

But that didn't happen.

They have blamed UN peacekeepers for their decision to put off indefinitely a planned disarmament ceremony.

The leader of one of the armed gangs, Amaral Duclona, said the groups would only disarm once the UN peacekeepers stopped conducting what he described as deadly raids in the poorer districts of the capital, Port au Prince, where the gangs operate.

A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Lt Commander Neuzivaldo Dos Anjos, denied that UN troops were launching unprovoked attacks in poor districts such as Cite Soleil.

He said UN troops have only opened fire when they have been fired upon by armed gang members.

Ultimatum

The disarmament was meant to have been the reply by the armed gangs to an ultimatum issued by President Rene Preval earlier this month.

	President Preval had ordered gangs to disarm

He called on the gangs to disarm or risk being killed.

President Preval is hugely popular among Haiti's poor and had pledged to crack down on violence and encourage foreign investment.

UN troops and Haitian police have been battling slum-based gangs, forcing many residents to flee and killing some gang fighters.

The UN peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti to help restore order following the 2004 revolt that toppled then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now exiled in South Africa.