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09/09/2005:

"Four Killed in Partisan Violence in Jamaica"

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Four people were shot and killed in partisan violence in the Mountain View community east of Jamaica's capital, where fires and gunfights raged, police said on Thursday.

The violence began on Tuesday during a nationwide protest against rising prices, which was organized by the opposition Jamaica Labour Party and led to a virtual shutdown of commerce on the island.

A 71-year-old man was shot dead by a group of men during a dispute over an impromptu roadblock and police were trying to quell an ongoing dispute as his friends sought revenge.

Three other men were shot and killed during the disturbances in the Mountain View neighborhood that links the capital of Kingston with Norman Manley International Airport.

Police said four houses were set afire and burned to the ground and bombs were thrown into other homes.

Supporters of the ruling People's National Party and the opposition party assigned themselves to sections of the community and have prevented each other from entering the other's neighborhoods.

Scores of frightened residents fled the area and traffic to and from the airport was diverted onto lengthy detours.

The killings pushed Jamaica's murder tally to 1,157, the highest ever recorded for the year to date. The nation of 2.7 million people had 1,469 murders last year and police said the annual toll could top 1,500 for the first time in Jamaica's history.
nytimes.com

I have never heard the US Republicans referred to as the 'ruling party'. Of course unruly and inscrutable 'natives' like the ones portrayed in this article need some sort of ruling party, right? This article is also a good example of bias by ommission. They begin by speaking of politically motivated killings and and up talking about the murder rate. It's hard to get it from this article, but yesterday in Jamaica there was a general strike that shut the country down. For the Times, the big story was 'partisan violence.'