Haitian Rebel Says His Forces Will Disarm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —  Rebel leader Guy Philippe said Wednesday his forces would disarm as U.S. Marines fanned out in the capital -- rifles at the ready -- to help bring order amid Haiti’s bloody uprising.

Earlier, Washington warned the rebels, who overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after seizing the northern half of the country, to disarm and disband.

“Now that there are foreign troops promising to protect the Haitian people ... and they have given the guarantee to protect the Haitian people ... we will lay down our arms,” Philippe told a news conference.

In their first reconnaissance sweep since arriving Sunday, a convoy of Marines in Humvees and armored vehicles rumbled out of the presidential National Palace as troops on foot moved onto surrounding streets.

They patrolled an area stretching 30 blocks, pushing old burned-out cars from the road. The Marines met no resistance and then returned to the palace.

Despite the rebel vow to disarm, a gunbattle erupted Wednesday between rebels and militant Aristide loyalists in their stronghold, the seaside La Salines slum. The shooting started when rebels, who started patroling the city Tuesday, tried to disarm the militants.

There was no sign at the scene of the American and French troops, the vanguard of an expected U.N.-backed peacekeeping force. Marine commanders told a press conference they had 1,000 troops on the ground in Haiti. In addition, Chile said it was sending 120 special forces to Haiti, the first of about 300. France said it would have some 420 soldiers and police here by the end of the week.

Also Wednesday, U.S. Marines guarding the airport said they blocked rebels from chasing ex-Aristide officials into the main terminal. The incident started Tuesday afternoon when rebels drove up said they were looking for Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and other Haitian officials.

When the Marines drove out of the facility in two Humvees mounted with .50-caliber machine-guns, the rebels quickly left. “As soon as we rolled up, they beat it out of there,” Staff Sgt. Christoperh Smith said. “They got out of there as fast as they could.”

Staff Sgt. Timothy Edwards, also speaking at the airport, said protecting Haitians had become part of the Marines’ job.

“Part of our mission is to step in if we think there is a threat of bodily harm or deadly force to a (Haitian) citizen,” he said.

According to the Pentagon, the Marines’ mission is to contribute to a secure environment in Port-Au-Prince and promote a constitutional political process after Aristide’s resignation.

They also must help with the delivery of humanitarian aid, as needed, and protect U.S. citizens in Haiti “as may be required,” according to a Pentagon statement released Sunday as the Marines were deployed.

The Marines are not mandated to seek out rebel forces to disarm or otherwise engage them, and there was no intent to get involved in stopping looting or other crimes, U.S. officials said. But if fired upon by rebels or others, the Marines could fire back.

Haiti’s political opposition, meanwhile, met with interim President Boniface Alexandre, demanding that he name a new prime minister and that Neptune -- a top member of Aristide’s Lavalas party and his former spokesman -- be dismissed and possibly arrested.

Also, the 15-nation Caribbean Community, or Caricom, concluded an emergency meeting Wednesday in Jamaica over the Haiti crisis, calling for an international inquiry into Sunday’s abrupt departure of Aristide.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the American and French troops were working with Haitian police to restore order. “The rebels need to disband and go back to their homes,” Boucher said. “And I want to be quite clear that that’s our position.”

He also said U.S. Ambassador James Foley was in touch with members of the Aristide government and members of the political opposition in an attempt to set up a “council of eminent persons” to name a prime minister and new government.

Boucher said the “rebels do not have a role in this process. All illegal and armed groups should lay down their arms.”

Philippe on Tuesday declared himself Haiti’s new military chief. “The country is in my hands!” he announced by radio during a break in a tour of the capital in the back of a pickup truck.

He also incited a group of 300 supporters to rally outside the office of the prime minister, urging that Neptune be arrested.

On Wednesday, Philippe was seen entering the U.S. ambassador’s residence. The rebels, who appeared unarmed, spoke briefly with Marine guards who allowed the five to enter the compound.

It was not immediately clear if Philippe met with Foley. After about 20 minutes the rebels emerged and left without comment. The U.S. Embassy also would not comment.

Haiti’s most recent round of bloodshed and killings started Feb. 5. The death toll has continued to rise, despite Aristide’s departure, reaching at least 130 Wednesday. Workers at the Port-au-Prince hospital said an additional 30 bodies had been brought to the morgue since Sunday.

Philippe apparently wanted to transform his fighters into a reconstituted Haitian army, which Aristide disbanded in 1995.

The rebel leader has said he was ready to follow the orders of interim President Boniface Alexandre, installed Sunday, but two days later he demanded Neptune’s arrest and trial.

The whereabouts of Neptune, a top member of Aristide’s Lavalas party and his former presidential spokesman, were unknown. Radio reports said he had been evacuated by helicopter.

Haiti’s first democratically elected leader since independence from France, Aristide accused by opponents of breaking promises to help the poor and of masterminding attacks on his opponents by armed gangs -- charges he denied.

The ousted leader has taken temporary asylum in the Central African Republic but by Wednesday had found no permanent home. The ex-leader was staying in the presidential palace, said Foreign Minister Charles Wenezoui said.

Sunday’s ouster was Aristide’s second. The army deposed him in 1991 and instituted a rule of terror until he was returned to power in an intervention by 20,000 U.S. troops. Washington strongly denies Aristide’s claim that this time, the United States forced him out of office.

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Associated Press writers Paisley Dodds and Ian James in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.