World Notes HAITI

After six days of intermittent violence and confusion, the streets of the capital of Port-au-Prince were still tense late last week. Rival military troops maintained an uneasy standoff after nearly a week of exchanging shouted insults and machine-gun rounds. As the country slid toward chaos, a state of emergency was declared, independent radio stations were shut down and curfews were imposed.

The precarious situation began on April 2, a few days after four high- ranking military officers were sacked, allegedly as part of a drug and corruption crackdown. That move sparked a simmering revolt within the military. Under the leadership of Lieut. Colonel Himmler Rebu, members of the army's elite Leopards corps took President Lieut. General Prosper Avril and his family hostage in a coup attempt. Loyalist troops rescued Avril at the airport as the captors prepared to send him into exile. A second coup attempt was put down by the Presidential Palace guards, who killed eight rebel military soldiers. By week's end the real casualty looked to be Haiti's hope for democracy.