Snow likely after midnight. Low 18F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. About one inch of snow expected. Updated: November 28, am. Marines escorted foreigners out of the country amid widespread looting Wednesday, but the rebel leader said the insurgents want to "give a chance to peace" and indicated his troops would hold off attacking the capital.
Pressure mounted for an international intervention and for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down. Security Council meeting on Haiti was scheduled for Thursday.
President Bush said the United States is encouraging the international community to provide a strong "security presence," and France said a peace force should be established immediately for deployment once a political agreement is reached. Foreigners tried to flee the country, some guarded by U. Marines, and looting erupted in the capital. Aristide supporters set dozens of flaming barricades that blocked roads throughout Port-au-Prince, and shots were shuttered. Panic overtook the city, though there was no sign of the rebels.
The rebels have overrun half of Haiti including its second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, where their leader, Guy Philippe, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that they were taking a wait-and-see approach to proposals to send international peacekeepers. Aristide, they will be welcome.
Philippe estimated his rebel force had grown from a couple of hundred to 5, with new recruits and more ex-soldiers joining the 3-week-old popular uprising to oust Aristide, and said they were ready to fight. Asked when they planned to move on Port-au-Prince, he said: "We're ready. We just want to give a chance to peace," indicating they would hold off. The only one the country doesn't want is Mr. As the rebels plotted their moves, leaders of Haiti's political opposition rejected an international peace plan that diplomats had billed as a last chance for peace, and asked the international community to help ensure a "timely and orderly" departure of Aristide.
