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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040301/ap_on_re_la_am_ca
/haiti_uprising&cid=589&ncid=716
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and flew
into exile Sunday, pressured by a bloody rebellion and the United States.
Gunfire crackled as the capital fell into chaos, and U.S. Marines arrived in
the country.

The contingent totaled fewer than 100 Marines and more were to arrive
Monday. They were the vanguard of a multinational force that the U.N.
Security Council approved late Sunday night, and France said it would send
troops on Monday.

"The government believes it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future.
This is the beginning of a new chapter," President Bush (news - web sites)
said at the White House. "I would urge the people of Haiti to reject
violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work. And the United
States is prepared to help."

Aristide's whereabouts were uncertain late Sunday, with officials saying his
jet stopped to refuel in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua. A senior
Caribbean Community official said Aristide told him during the refueling
stop he was bound for South Africa.

After word spread of the president's departure, angry Aristide supporters
roamed the streets armed with old rifles, pistols, machetes and sticks. Some
fired wildly into crowds on the Champs de Mars, the main square in front of
the National Palace.

The head of Haiti's supreme court said he was taking charge of the
government, and a key rebel leader said he welcomed the arrival of foreign
troops.

"I think the worst is over, and we're waiting for the international forces.
They will have our full cooperation," Guy Philippe told CNN.

The crisis has been brewing since Aristide's party swept flawed legislative
elections in 2000, prompting international donors to freeze millions of
dollars in aid.

Opponents also accused Aristide of breaking promises to help the poor,
allowing corruption fueled by drug trafficking and masterminding attacks on
opponents by armed gangs - charges the president denied.

The discontent erupted into violence 3 1/2 weeks ago as rebels began driving
police from towns and cities in the north.

On Sunday, France decided to send a detachment of between 120-140 soldiers
to Haiti, said Catherine Colonna, spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac.
She said the troops would arrive on Monday and they would work "in
coordination with the United States."

A French military spokesman in Guadeloupe said the contingent would consist
of 200 soldiers from the French Caribbean territory of Martinique.

Though not aligned with rebels, the political opposition had also pushed for
Aristide to leave for the good of Haiti's 8 million people, angered by
poverty, corruption and crime. The uprising killed at least 100 people.

Anarchy reigned for most of the day in Port-au-Prince. More than 3,000
inmates held in the National Penitentiary were released. Looters emptied a
police station and hit pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses, mostly
on the capital's outskirts.

"Chop off their heads and burn their homes," rioters screamed, echoing the
war cry of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the general who ousted French troops and
torched plantations to end slavery in Haiti.

Some anti-Aristide militants organized armed posses that prowled the streets
in pickup trucks, searching for Aristide supporters. In the back of one a
man lay unconscious - or dead - with a head wound.

But police moved in during the afternoon, scared away the crowd in the front
of the palace, and the violence ebbed.

James Voltaire, 28, said Haiti's constitution had been violated. "Whoever
the president is, it's going to be a losing situation. As long as we don't
see our real president (Aristide) we will stay mobilized," he warned.

It was unclear where Aristide would go. U.S. National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said he was going to a "third" country,
meaning he would not take refuge in the United States as he did the last
time he was ousted, in 1991.

Aristide's jet refueled on the island of Antigua and was en route to South
Africa, government and airport officials in that Caribbean country said. But
officials in Johannesburg said there had been no recent contact with
Aristide nor an offer of asylum.

It was not clear where Aristide's wife was. The ex-president and Mildred
Trouillot Aristide had sent their two daughters to her mother in New York
City last week.

Three hours after Aristide's departure, Supreme Court Justice Boniface
Alexandre declared at a news conference that he was taking control of the
government as called for by the constitution. He urged calm.

"The task will not be an easy one," said Alexandre. "Haiti is in crisis. ...
It needs all its sons and daughters. No one should take justice into their
own hands."

Alexandre, in his 60s, has a reputation for honesty but could face a legal
obstacle: The Haitian constitution calls for parliament to approve him as
leader, and the legislature has not met since early this year when
lawmakers' terms expired.

Haiti's political opposition on Sunday postponed a decision on a proposal
for a new government offered by the Caribbean Community of nations and the
Organization of American States. The plan calls for the government, the
opposition and the international community to form a panel that would
eventually lead to a new prime minister and elections.

Half the country was in the hands of the rebels, including former soldiers
of the army that Aristide had disbanded.

Philippe, the rebel leader, told The Associated Press his forces would head
for the capital but would not engage in any further fighting.

"The time is not for fighting anymore," Philippe said in an interview with
CNN.

He also said rebels wanted to take part in any negotiations about Haiti's
future, but had already accepted Alexandre as president.

"We just hope no country will accept Aristide, so they will send him back to
be judged. He did bad things," Philippe, a former police chief, said at a
rebel headquarters in the key northern port town of Cap-Haitien. He told CNN
his men would be in the capital by Sunday night or Monday morning.

Another rebel commander, Winter Etienne, said the fighters would disarm once
a new government is installed.

It was the second time Aristide, a 50-year-old former slum pastor, has fled
his country. In 1991 he was ousted just months after being elected president
for the first time.

President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) sent 20,000 troops to restore
Aristide to power but insisted he respect a constitutional term limit and
step down in 1995.

Aristide picked his successor, Rene Preval, but was considered the power
behind the scenes until he won a second term in 2000. Those elections were
marred by a low turnout and an opposition boycott.