WORLD NEWS

The opposition had said it would formally respond by Monday afternoon to the plan, but made it known they would not agree to any proposal that did not require Aristide to step down. Aristide on Saturday accepted the plan presented by diplomats, including Canadian cabinet minister Denis Coderre, which would allow him to remain president with diminished powers, sharing with political rivals a government that would organize elections. Western diplomats in Haiti said the United States was searching for a former army officer with the moral authority to shepherd Haiti through Aristide's departure and into a transitional government. On Monday, Lt.-Gen. Herard Abraham, who voluntarily handed power to a civilian government, went on the radio to say "Aristide should make the personally courageous and patriotic gesture to resign, for he no longer controls the country." Abraham surrendered power in March 1990 to Haiti's Supreme Court justice, allowing a transition that led to Haiti's first free elections in December 1990, which Aristide won in a landslide. Although wildly popular when he first came to power, Aristide he has lost support, especially since flawed legislative elections in 2000 led international donors to freeze millions of dollars in aid. Meanwhile, with violence rising both from Aristide supporters and the insurgents, France also urged its citizens Monday to leave its former colony. The United States and Mexico told their citizens to get out last week. There are about 30,000 foreigners in Haiti, including about 20,000 Americans, 2,000 French and 1,000 Canadians. With rifles at the ready, 20 marines in combat gear and helmets rushed off the U.S.

Air Force transport plane at Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Monday and ran to make a secure perimeter around the aircraft before the other marines disembarked. Western diplomats and a U.S. Defence Department official said the goal for the 50 marines would be to protect the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and its staff. Guy Philippe, the rebel leader, had said on Sunday that Port-au-Prince would be his next target. Cap-Haitien is just 145 kilometres north of Port-au-Prince, but is a gruelling seven-hour drive over potholed roads sometimes reduced to bedrock. "I think that in less than 15 days we will control all of Haiti," Philippe said. Sunday's victory means more than half of Haiti now is beyond the control of the central government. The takeover of Cap-Haitien by only some 200 fighters was the most significant victory since the uprising began on Feb. 5. At least 17 were killed in Sunday's fighting, raising the toll to about 70 dead and dozens wounded in the revolt. In Port-au-Prince, hundreds of armed Aristide supporters set up more than a dozen barricades on the road leading north, near the international airport. Their tension was evident as they banged on a car with rifle butts and waved shotguns and pistols at vehicles to force them to stop. "We are ready to resist, with anything we have - rocks, machetes," said a teacher guarding one roadblock, who gave his name only as Rincher.