"The security environment in the capital is not good at this time," said Pierre Esperance, a local human rights activist.

The UN said in a statement that Sri Lankan peacekeeping troops found the bodies on Friday morning in the southern Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant, the site of a recent spate of gun battles between warring gangs.

Civilians

The victims apparently were killed in an hours-long shootout among gang members fighting for control of the dense area, Esperance said.

"The people who died were civilians, not gang members," said Esperance, whose National Coalition for Haitian Rights has monitored gang activity in the slum.

Including the latest deaths, he said that at least 30 people have been slain in Martissant since June 1.

The Brazil-led UN peacekeeping force stepped up patrols where the bodies were found. Many residents fled the area for fear of more attacks, local radio reported.

"The military forces ... currently control the area of where the incidents occurred and have increased their patrols to protect the population and prevent more acts of violence," the UN statement said.

The deaths were the latest in a series of killings and kidnappings that have gripped Haiti's tense capital in the weeks since the May inauguration of President Rene Preval. It was unclear whether the recent violence was politically motivated.

New president

But the killings and kidnappings have raised fears of a return to the mayhem following a 2004 revolt that toppled then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The impoverished Caribbean nation had been relatively calm since Preval's Feb. 7 election victory.

Sophie Boutaud de la Combe, a UN spokeswoman, said UN police would work with Haitian authorities to investigate Friday's deaths.

Police say gangs stage kidnappings as a source of income, but others believe they are waging attacks to pressure Preval to return Aristide, his one-time political mentor, from exile in South Africa.
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