Aristide Flees Haiti, International Troops Due as Violence Engulfs Capital

Aristide Flees Haiti, International Troops Due as Violence Engulfs Capital
President Jean Bertrand Aristide fled Haiti in the face of an armed revolt and world pressure as rioting erupted here and the United States said an international peace-keeping force was being readied for the Caribbean state. Aristide, 50, increasingly isolated after months of bloody unrest in the Western hemisphere's poorest country, resigned and fled to an as-yet unknown destination via the neighboring Dominican Republic, officials said. Supreme Court chief justice Boniface Alexandre assumed interim power. "My resignation will avoid bloodshed. Life for everyone death for no one," Aristide, the firebrand priest turned politician, said in a a farewell statement written in Creole and read by Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. Alexandre urged an end to the violence that has left dozens dead since the rebellion erupted three weeks ago. "Haiti, I exhort you to remain calm. No one should take justice into their own hands," he said. A top rebel leader, Guy Philippe, said the rebels were ready to lay down their weapons following the resignation of Aristide and would welcome the arrival of an international stabilization force. "We are ready to get rid of our weapons. We need an international force and we expect them to arrive here by Tuesday or Wednesday," Philippe said during a telephone interview from Haiti's second city, Cap-Haitien. US ambassador James Foley said an international force, "including US participation," was expected this week in Haiti, where Aristide's resignation triggered a spree of shooting and looting in the capital by his supporters armed with pistols, rifles and machetes. "We expect they will be able to rapidly restore peace and order," Foley said. "Now a more hopeful chapter in Haiti's difficult history is being written." In Washington, a US defense official said a contingent of some 500 US Marines could fly into Haiti as early as Sunday to assist with refugee repatriations by the US Coast Guard. The official said the Marine contingent was not part of a multinational stabilization force for Haiti but could be joined to such a force if one is deployed. Thierry Burkard, France's ambassador to Haiti, said his country would contribute to the international force that would arrive shortly in Haiti, celebrating this year the 200th anniversary of its independence from France. "It will be a question of days not weeks," Burkard said. In Paris, a spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac said France was ready to support the deployment of civilian peace-keepers but had yet to decide whether to dispatch troops as part of an international military force. Evans Paul, a key opposition leader, said he would likely back an international peace plan that calls for the deployment of an outside police force backed primarily by France, Canada, the United States and the Caribbean community (CARICOM). "At the moment we are cooperating with the international community that has helped us rid the country of Aristide," Paul said. Government opponents earlier had rejected the plan. That plan calls for the creation of a three-person panel with representatives of the government, the political opposition and the international community, which will name a seven-member advisory commission to select a new prime minister and government that would then prepare for elections. The proposal excludes the armed rebels, who have seized control of more than half the country since the insurgency began on February 5. Aristide's resignation came just a day after the United States took moves to distance itself from his beleaguered government, and following calls from numerous countries, including France and Canada, that he step aside. Ambassador Foley said that after resigning, Aristide had requested and received US protection on his way to Port-au-Prince's international airport. "US security forces were present," he said. Despite the appeals for calm, thousands of Aristide supporters, many of them gang members armed with machetes, guns and other weapons, gathered outside the national palace here and rampaged through the streets. Gunmen armed with M-16s opened fire on vehicles in downtown Port-au-Prince and looting erupted around the palace. A house across the street from the palace was set on fire sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky. A diplomatic source here said Aristide had signed his resignation letter at 6:00 am (1100 GMT) in front of witnesses. Aristide left the country shortly afterwards by plane. There were a flurry of conflicting reports suggesting Aristide might eventually end up in Morocco, Taiwan or South Africa. Morocco and Taiwan both denied having received asylum requests, with Rabat saying it would refuse to harbor Aristide should he ask. The government of South African President Thabo Mbeki, one of Aristide's few solid international allies, said it was "not aware" of the possibility the ex-Haitian leader might seek asylum there, but added that a formal statement would be issued later Sunday. As recently as Saturday, Aristide had insisted in a televised statement, that stepping aside was "out of the question." But he threw in the towel after a scathing statement from Washington. "This long-simmering crisis is largely of Mr. Aristide's making," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Saturday. "His failure to adhere to democratic principles has contributed to the deep polarization and violent unrest that we are witnessing in Haiti today. His own actions have called into question his fitness to continue to govern Haiti." **PHOTO CAPTION*** A looter leaps from a small wall past a burning building near the Presidential palace in Port-Au-Prince. (AFP/Jaime Razuri)

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