HAITI: A ragtag band of armed rebels who helped to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide roared into the capital on Monday as thousands of jubilant Haitians lined the streets shouting "Liberte" and "Long Live Haiti", writes Alistair Scrutton and Jim Loney in Port-au-Prince
The rebels swooped into Port-au-Prince as a contingent of about 200 US marines secured Haiti's main airport, unpacked gear and began a mission to restore order in the poorest country in the Americas.
The US planned to provide about 1,500 to 2,000 troops to serve in an international stability force totalling less than 5,000 troops in Haiti, Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said last night.
During a Pentagon briefing, Mr Rumsfeld said an international "interim" stability force in Haiti authorised on Sunday night by the UN Security Council "will probably be less than 5,000 total". He described the US contribution as "a small fraction of that".
He said: "I don't know what the number will be, but for the sake of argument, say 1,500 or 2,000, or less. But time will tell. We'll have what's needed."
The final number of US troops would depend "on the facts on the ground" and on contributions from other countries, said Mr Rumsfeld.
Haiti was convulsed by an uprising that began 25 days ago when an armed gang took over the northern city of Gonaives and ended with Mr Aristide's departure into exile on Sunday morning. The insurgents paraded victoriously around the National Palace to the cheers of singing and dancing supporters who welcomed rebel leaders Guy Philippe, the ex-police chief, and Louis Jodel Chamblain, the former head of a death squad believed responsible for thousands of killings.
The city returned to a semblance of normality and Aristide's hard-core armed supporters, known as chimeres, melted back into the slums for the moment after rampaging through the streets in recent nights.
Mr Chamblain and Mr Philippe waved to the throng from the window of a police station near the palace before the rebels paraded in front of Aristide's former home under the watchful eyes of US marines and security agents. "We are very happy today, but we are still afraid because the chimeres still have guns," said a woman named Octilene, who celebrated the rebels' arrival wearing a baseball cap adorned with an American flag.
Mr Aristide, who was once a champion of Haiti's fledgling democracy and who was driven out by the revolt and foreign pressure to quit, left for Africa early on Sunday in a hasty departure arranged by the United States.
Looting and gun battles erupted afterward in Port-au-Prince. Looters struck shops, police stations and the homes of Aristide supporters, carting off refrigerators, doors, televisions and clothing.
The city regained some order yesterday after the mayhem of Sunday. A street market was packed with people although traffic was lighter than usual because of fuel shortages.
Mr Aristide arrived in the capital of the Central African Republic yesterday. "By toppling me they have cut down the tree of peace, but it will grow again," he told state radio in Bangui. - (Reuters)