Heavy gunfire has been heard around Haiti's presidential palace, where US Secretary of State Colin Powell was holding talks at the time. It is not clear if the shooting caused any injuries. The government blamed supporters of the former president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, for the gunfire. Mr Powell is on a one-day visit to help promote political stability. He was also due to meet young Haitians living with HIV, to mark World Aids Day. The UN estimates nearly 6% of Haitians are infected with HIV or have Aids. Renewed violence United Nations peacekeepers were sent in after Mr Aristide was forced out of office by an uprising in February. In recent months renewed violence between government forces and supporters of Mr Aristide has claimed dozens of lives. Mr Powell was holding talks with caretaker Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and other key figures during Wednesday's gunfire. A US state department official said talks scheduled for later in the day would be relocated because of the shooting. It is Mr Powell's second visit to Haiti this year, following a previous one-day visit in April. On that occasion, he became the first senior US official to visit since the three-week rebellion that ousted Mr Aristide in February. Mr Aristide has repeatedly accused the US and France of forcing him into exile. But the US and France insist that Mr Aristide agreed to leave the country voluntarily and had signed a letter of resignation. Since then, Haiti has suffered further turmoil. In October, Tropical Storm Jeanne left more than 2,000 dead and many more homeless. Mr Powell announced last month that he would soon step down as US Secretary of State. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com