International Troops Secure Key Haitian Sites

A rebel convoy today rolled into the centre of Haiti's capital, encountering no resistance and stopping in the plaza outside the presidential palace where half a dozen US marines could be seen within the grounds.

The rebels and the marines, wearing combat fatigues and brandishing assault rifles, did not immediately approach each other.

The palace was where former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide ruled from before he resigned yesterday and fled to Africa after a three-week rebellion that has left the Caribbean nation in crisis and claimed more than 100 lives.

Thousands of Haitians converged on the square, shouting "Liberty!" and "Aristide is gone!"

The scenes came as US and French marines - who are spearheading a UN-endorsed peacekeeping force - prepared to fan out and protect key sites in the capital.

Colonel David Berger, head of a US marine contingent, said 150 US marines have arrived in the country "to secure key sites ... to achieve more security and a stable environment".

Asked how troops would interact with incoming rebels and armed Aristide supporters, he said: "I have no instructions to go about disarmament. We have a specific purpose. People who interfere with that mission, we will handle with appropriate force."

Rebels riding atop pickup trucks pumped their fists as their convoy entered the capital, Port-au-Prince. Welcoming residents shouted "Guy Philippe!" - the name of the rebel leader.

Asked what his intentions were in the capital, Mr Philippe told an Associated Press reporter travelling with him: "We're just going to make sure the palace is clean for the president to come ... that there is no threat there."

He said he was referring to Supreme Court Justice Boniface Alexandre, who on Sunday said he was taking control of the government as called for by the constitution.

Mr Alexandre, in his 60s, has a reputation for honesty but could face a legal obstacle: The Haitian constitution calls for parliament to approve him as leader, and the legislature has not met since early this year when politicians' terms expired.

The convoy of more than 70 rebels commanded by Mr Philippe, a former assistant police chief and former military officer, headed out from the western town of Gonaives before dawn, driving past a scene of destruction.

Some rebels entered a police station near the palace.

It was unclear how the rebel force would be greeted by the US and French troops. Mr Philippe said earlier he welcomed deployment of foreign peacekeepers.

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, made clear he did not want to see some of the leaders of the rebel groups try to assume any roles in the new government.

"Some of these individuals we would not want to see re-enter civil society in Haiti because of their past records and this is something we will have to work through," Mr Powell said.

In the town of St Marc, which the rebels had attacked early in the uprising but then was retaken by government forces, the convoy passed a roadblock where the charred bodies of three people lay in the middle of the road.

Earlier it emerged that Mr Aristide had fled to the Central African Republic, where he was expected to stay for a "few days". He said those who overthrew him have "cut down the tree of peace", but "it will grow again".

A Caribbean official said Aristide was expected to continue onto South Africa, but officials in the country said they were unaware of such plans.

In Haiti, the contingent of French marines was to first secure French diplomatic sites.

Mr Aristide's home, a three-storey villa on a private estate, has been trashed in the meantime. Pictures, documents and a grand piano were dragged out onto courtyard then abandoned. Family and school pictures lay among the disorder. Broken plates littered the area by the pool. Books that were strewn about included several written by Mr Aristide.

The initial contingent troops that landed last night were the vanguard of a multinational force approved by the UN Security Council. More were expected to arrive later today.

Haiti's crisis has been brewing since Mr Aristide's party swept allegedly flawed legislative elections in 2000, prompting international donors to freeze millions of US dollars in aid.

Opponents also accused Mr Aristide of breaking promises to help the poor, allowing corruption fuelled by drug trafficking and masterminding attacks on opponents by armed gangs - charges the president denied.

The discontent erupted into violence more than three weeks ago as rebels began driving police from towns and cities in the north.

Though not aligned with rebels, the political opposition had also pushed for Mr Aristide to leave for the good of Haiti's eight million people, angered by poverty, corruption and crime.