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[haitiwebs]

St Marc, Haiti _ A second former leader of the rebellion that ousted Haiti's first freely elected president said on Saturday that he will be a candidate in November elections to replace the country's interim government.

Winter Etienne, a former spokesman for the Cannibal Army street gang that started the revolt that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, told supporters that he would run for senate in the November elections.

``We have to think big. We have to prove we can achieve what we fought for,'' Mr Etienne said at a gathering of the National Reconstruction Front in a packed schoolroom in the port city of St Marc, about 45 miles west of Port-au-Prince.

Mr Etienne was introduced at the rally by Guy Philippe, a former police chief regarded as the leader of the rebellion that toppled Mr Aristide in February 2004.

Mr Philippe, who announced in July that he intends to run for president in the elections, said on Thursday that he would seek an alliance with moderate members of Mr Aristide's Lavalas Family party.

He has claimed his party has gained 35,000 members over the past year, a figure that could not immediately be verified. Haiti's interim government has offered to fund 40% of campaign costs for any party that can prove it has at least 40,000 members.

About 100 delegates of the National Reconstruction Front party delegates had gathered from across northern regions of Haiti to listen to Mr Etienne's announcement, which included calls for free education and land reform.AP