WORLD STORIES/UPDATE

Haiti's capital in chaos as rebels close in; marines may be posted offshore

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CP) - Gangs of pro-government supporters who looted, robbed and careened around firing into the air from hijacked trucks disappeared from the streets of the Haitian capital Saturday, acting on an appeal from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide for the violence to end. In the anxious calm that followed, rebel leader Guy Philippe said his fighters would hold off attacking the capital "for a day or two," in response to a U.S. appeal. Looting continued at the capital's seaport Saturday, with people hacking into about 500 containers of U.S. aid. but those involved were not only pro-Aristide supporters. "I've seen bullets fly, people falling (dead) in the street, but these events are worse," said plasterer Moise Faustin, 58. He spoke at the general hospital, where the morgue was filled with bodies. "Bodies are piling up in the morgue," said Dr. Ted Lazarre. "Most ambulances coming in are bringing corpses. Yesterday they brought in 25-30 bodies alone." As he spoke, a truckload of Aristide militants plowed through the hospital car park to the entrance, where they revved the engine threateningly and rocked the vehicle back and forth before driving away. "People in Lavalas (Aristide's party) are mobilizing because they feel their power is threatened but the head of the country said things should cool down," said Faustin. "It's because of the president's plea that things are calmer today." But at the city's seaport Saturday hundreds of people were hacking into containers of U.S. aid and hefting away sacks of lentils, ignoring Aristide's statement on state television Friday night that "looting is bad." Looters at the port Saturday sported stolen hospital gowns and carried machetes. Food prices have multiplied in the capital since the uprising erupted Feb. 5 in Gonaives and rebels swiftly cut off supplies from the Artibonite agricultural district. The rebels have gathered hundreds of volunteers as they have chased Haiti's outgunned police force from a score of towns and overrun more than one-half of the country. Rebel leader Guy Philippe said Saturday while his forces will continue to converge near the capital, he will hold off attacking for a day or two in response to U.S. appeals, which he said he read on the Internet. Speaking from his base in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city that the rebels captured last Sunday, he said he had not been contacted directly by U.S. officials.

The U.S. Embassy, which has rebuffed Aristide's pleas to send a small peacekeeping force, urged Haiti's leader late Friday to tell his followers to stop "spreading terror and attacking civilians and the general population...in the name of Jean-Bertrand Aristide." The statement also asked the rebels to halt their advance. Aristide urged his followers to let people go about their duties in the day but added: "We can put up barricades at night to ensure they (rebels) don't attack us." There were reports Saturday that South Africa may be sending weapons to the Haitian government - though government officials could not be reached to confirm this. Die Burger newspaper reported a military aircraft was scheduled to fly early in the week with 150 R1 rifles, 200 smoke grenades, 200 bulletproof vests and 5,000 rounds of ammunition for Haiti. Aristide loyalists robbed drivers for the U.S. and French embassies early Saturday and beat up the French Embassy driver, witnesses said. Three Canadian Hercules military transport aircraft were dispatched to Haiti by Prime Minister Paul Martin on Saturday to bring home any Canadians who want to flee.

"The situation in Haiti is deteriorating hour by hour," Martin said on a visit to Cochrane, Alta. The aircraft could bring Canadians out as soon as late Saturday, he said, noting commercial air service has been suspended. About 1,000 Canadians were registered with the embassy but it is not known how many remain in the country. Defence Department spokesman Capt. Dale MacEachern said Saturday afternoon from Ottawa the planes had arrived in the region but would not confirm they were inside Haitian borders. The planes, sent from CFB Trenton, Ont., were accompanied by an undisclosed number of personnel to assist two earlier deployments by the Canadian Forces earlier in the week. One team was sent to set up an emergency contingency plan while nine soliders were assigned to guard the Canadian Embassy and staff. MacEachern would not speculate how long the teams would remain in the region but added any decision to send additional forces would depend on how the situation develops. Martin has been in touch with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan while Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham is in talks with the Americans and the French as the crisis in Haiti develops. There have been no discussions about whether Canada would offer asylum to Aristide. He once lived briefly in Montreal before returning to lead his country. In Port-au-Prince, Ambassador Kenneth Cook urged Canadians still in the country to "hunker down" and stay off the streets. Cook says the important thing is Canadians not become a target. The embassy moved operations this week from its downtown location to Cook's residence. The ambassador said six Canadians who work at the embassy remain on the job. Attacks on foreigners have increased since U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin suggested Aristide cede power for the good of his people. Aristide said his resignation, also demanded by the rebels and a broad-based opposition coalition, is "out of the question." The first freely elected president in Haiti's 200-year history of military and civilian dictatorships said his departure would irreparably hurt democracy. His term ends in February 2006. Some 2,200 U.S. marines were put on alert as Pentagon officials weighed the possibility of sending troops to waters off Haiti to guard against any flood of refugees and to protect the estimated 20,000 Americans in the Caribbean country.