Doubts Over Haiti Rebels' Pledge

Haitians stayed off the streets Thursday, as many doubted that rebel forces would disarm as promised despite a temporary show of U.S. military and diplomatic muscle.

Meanwhile, the Central African Republic said it will offer ex-Haiti leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide permanent asylum if he asks.

The disarmament pledge Wednesday by rebel leader Guy Philippe signaled the end of a monthlong rebellion that killed at least 130 people.

At least three people were killed Wednesday when rebels and militants loyal to ousted Aristide fought an hourlong gunbattle in a slum near the looted seaport.

Aristide supporters demonstrating in front of the National Palace scattered Wednesday, saying they feared they would be shot.

The United States sent Marines into the capital, Philippe visited the residence of the U.S. ambassador and declared his fighters would lay down their arms.

Many Haitians remained doubtful.

"The rebels want to take over the country," said Gracious Laguenne, a 54-year-old tailor. "As soon as the Americans leave, they're going to come back and it will be the same thing all over again."

On Thursday, Port-au-Prince's streets were nearly empty. Shoeshine boys and banana vendors looked in vain for customers. The few gas stations open had long lines.

Daphnee Saintilima, trying to sell a pile of papayas, voiced the preoccupation of most people in this country, where two-thirds of the 8 million people go hungry every day.

"The most important thing for me is to feed my family. I'm tired of politics. Politics doesn't feed me," she said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Marines warily fanned out from the presidential palace in their first reconnaissance in force.

Amid the occasional pop of a distant gunshot, a convoy of 10 machine-gun-mounted Humvees and armored vehicles rumbled onto trash-strewn streets and patrolled about 30 blocks. As burned-out cars were pushed from roads, Marine riflemen watched from behind the sights of their weapons.

Residents peered warily from balconies. Some showed open hostility.

Marine commanders said they had 1,000 troops on the ground, with a mission that included protecting Haitian civilians from reprisals. Previously, they said they were there only to protect U.S. citizens and interests.

Col. Mark Gurganis, commander of the U.S. troops in Haiti, said he and some other U.S. officials asked Philippe at a meeting Wednesday to honor his words to lay down arms if Aristide resigned.

The day after he had declared himself Haiti's "military chief," Philippe declared, "Now that there are foreign troops promising to protect the Haitian people … we will lay down our arms."

The rebels then abandoned the former army headquarters they had occupied since Monday, disappearing with their guns.

"For now, the rebel forces have agreed to cede military authority to the international forces," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, "but with vendetta killings going on in the countryside, rebel troops heavily armed and threats continuing on Haitian radio against Aristide supporters, it is an uneasy peace, at best."

Rebel leaders have said they wanted to rebuild the army, which has a murderous history in Haiti and fomented 32 coups in its 200 years of independence from France.

Interim President Boniface Alexandre, making his first address to the nation since the former Supreme Court chief justice was sworn in Sunday, called the rebels "patriotic men of honor" — indicating there were no plans to arrest two rebel leaders who are convicted assassins — and asked them to disarm and help rebuild Haiti.

The United States, with its military already overextended in Iraq and Afghanistan, has indicated it wants its troops in Haiti for as short a time as possible.

The Bush administration sent the Marines in Sunday after Aristide fled the country with the rebels nearing Port-au-Prince and U.S. and French officials pressing him to resign.

Caribbean leaders called for an independent international inquiry into the departure of Aristide, who claims he was abducted at gunpoint by U.S. Marines — a charge Washington strongly denies.

The leaders signaled their anger by saying they would not provide troops for the U.N. peacekeeping force.

At an emergency summit in Jamaica of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson called it a "very dangerous precedent" for all democratically elected leaders.

Aristide, Haiti's first freely elected president, was wildly popular when voters chose him in 1990. But he is accused of condoning corruption, with aides leading lavish lifestyles fueled by drug-trafficking, while the poor got poorer. As opposition mounted, he is accused of using the police, armed gangs and militant loyalists to crush his opponents.

The U.S. blocked international aid to Haiti after elections in 2000 in which a controversial vote-counting formula led to contested victories for pro-Aristide lawmakers. The day before he quit, the U.S. blamed the crises on Aristide, even though he accepted the Caribbean Community's peace plan; the opposition rejected it.

Since Aristide arrived in the Central African Republic on Monday after his ouster a day earlier, officials have said he would only stay a few days while they sought a permanent home for him elsewhere.

Negotiations have been under way to find Aristide a final destination. South Africa has said it is not opposed to taking in Aristide, but it hasn't received any formal asylum request.

Central African Republic, an impoverished nation, hopes that is Aristide stays, the international community will help pay for his upkeep.