Police general director Leonce Charles said three colleagues of Remissainthe, who had been hunted by police for months, were killed with him in Port-au-Prince's Delmas neighborhood after a confrontation with officers.

"We chased them from 75 to 30 Delmas (Street) where they were brought down," said Charles, who added it was not yet clear whether there were police casualties.

Haitian national police in February had issued arrest warrants for former soldiers, including Remissainthe, for their alleged involvement in the killing of Haitian police officers.

Police in mid-February offered a reward of 250,000 gourdesdollars) for information leading to the capture of Remissainthe as well as Rene Jean Anthony, who was close to ousted president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Remissainthe was suspected of involvement in the killing of four Haitian police officers.

Police and former military staff began clashing early in the afternoon Saturday in Delmas, with gunfire and some large blasts rattling the district.

Automatic rifle fire and loud explosions in the Delmas section of the city caused panic among the local community.

The police chief said that UN peacekeepers and police together had taken measures to secure major highways leading to Port-au-Prince.

"We are informed that partisans of the ex-military chief are moving towards the capital," said Charles, who said police were currently focused on gathering their own together.

Saturday's deaths occurred amid a heightening of tension in recent weeks in Haiti where presidential elections are due to be held in two rounds in October and November this year.

To try and deal with the political and security crisis, the UN Security Council announced last week that it is to hold an extraordinary meeting in Port-au-Prince to discuss the situation.

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, who presides over the council this month, announced that the mission would take place between April 13 and April 16.

Ex-soldiers in Haiti have had confrontations with police for months, demanding the re-establishment of the armed forces.

Haiti's army took part in human rights abuses and a number of military coups during the country's history, including Aristide's ouster in 1991.

They were disbanded by Aristide in 1994.

The government says it knows of 2,800 former armed forces members throughout the country. Hundreds more claim they belonged to the military, but are not registered.

Currently, former soldiers control several areas in Haiti's interior, living alongside troops from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

The former soldiers insist they are a legal entity since the Constitution still recognizes them.

Aristide fled Haiti on February 29, 2004, amid an armed uprising and street protests against his rule. He now lives in exile in South Africa.

He was replaced by a US- and French-backed interim government led by president Boniface Alexandre and prime minister Gerard Latortue.