nds76
12-24-2005, 5:36pm
The body of the retired RCMP officer who was slain in Haiti earlier this week has been returned to Canadian soil.
Uniformed Mounties escorted the coffin of Mark Bourque across the airport tarmac in Quebec City where a brief repatriation ceremony was held on Friday afternoon.
Bourque, 57, from Stoneham, Que., was one of 23 other Canadian retired officers helping to train Haitian police for the upcoming elections, slated to begin Jan. 8.
Bourque died in hospital less than two hours after an unknown assailant opened fire Tuesday on the unmarked rental vehicle he was driving in the volatile Port-au-Prince slum known as Cite Soleil.
He had been taking a fellow Canadian to the airport to catch a flight home for the holidays.
Bourque died from his wounds despite efforts by the man accompanying him and by peacekeepers who arrived from a nearby UN checkpoint.
The soldiers returned gunfire and managed to evacuate the two Canadians to a nearby Argentinian military hospital run by the UN.
The UN's military police will conduct an investigation into the incident.
UN spokesman David Wimhurst said earlier that he was confident the shooter would be tracked down. The probe will include an analysis of the bullets, and other intelligence.
"But this is a long-term thing. There isn't going to be any short, quick answer to this one," Wimhurst said.
Bourque, a 35-year veteran of the RCMP, leaves a wife of 30 years and two children, aged 30 and 33.
His funeral is expected to be held in Quebec City on Wednesday.
Bourque was the sixth peacekeeper to die in action since the UN mission arrived in Haiti to stabilize the impoverished country in June 2004, four months after a bloody rebellion ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051224/bourque_return_051224/20051224?hub=TopStories
Uniformed Mounties escorted the coffin of Mark Bourque across the airport tarmac in Quebec City where a brief repatriation ceremony was held on Friday afternoon.
Bourque, 57, from Stoneham, Que., was one of 23 other Canadian retired officers helping to train Haitian police for the upcoming elections, slated to begin Jan. 8.
Bourque died in hospital less than two hours after an unknown assailant opened fire Tuesday on the unmarked rental vehicle he was driving in the volatile Port-au-Prince slum known as Cite Soleil.
He had been taking a fellow Canadian to the airport to catch a flight home for the holidays.
Bourque died from his wounds despite efforts by the man accompanying him and by peacekeepers who arrived from a nearby UN checkpoint.
The soldiers returned gunfire and managed to evacuate the two Canadians to a nearby Argentinian military hospital run by the UN.
The UN's military police will conduct an investigation into the incident.
UN spokesman David Wimhurst said earlier that he was confident the shooter would be tracked down. The probe will include an analysis of the bullets, and other intelligence.
"But this is a long-term thing. There isn't going to be any short, quick answer to this one," Wimhurst said.
Bourque, a 35-year veteran of the RCMP, leaves a wife of 30 years and two children, aged 30 and 33.
His funeral is expected to be held in Quebec City on Wednesday.
Bourque was the sixth peacekeeper to die in action since the UN mission arrived in Haiti to stabilize the impoverished country in June 2004, four months after a bloody rebellion ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051224/bourque_return_051224/20051224?hub=TopStories