Haitian Rebels Nix U.S. Plan

Haiti's president urgently appealed for the world's help Tuesday to avert a bloodbath and a new exodus of boat people as rebels threatened the capital. Despite last-ditch diplomacy, an opposition coalition rejected a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide armed with old rifles and pistols built junkpile barricades blocking the road into Port-au-Prince, setting some of the barriers ablaze with burning tires.

The opposition rejected a peace plan that would have kept Aristide as president.

"We sent our position (paper) and a signed letter saying no to the proposal," opposition leader Paul Denis told The Associated Press. He said the letters from the Democratic Platform were delivered to David Lee of Canada, the Organization of American States representative in Haiti.

"There will be no more delays. Our answer remains the same. Aristide must resign," Maurice Lafortune, president of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce that is a member of the Democratic Platform, said after a coalition meeting.

Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday had asked the opposition leaders to delay their formal response for 24 hours — until 5 p.m. Tuesday — and opposition leaders said he had sought to assure them that the international community would call for Aristide to step down if he did not honor any agreement.

Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton said Tuesday that both President Aristide and opposition leaders have accepted his offer to travel to Haiti to help broker a peace agreement after a U.S.-backed proposal was rejected.

Sharpton also said that opposition spokesman Paul Denis told him by telephone from Haiti that they would likely refuse the U.S. plan, which does not require Aristide to resign.

"It appears at the end of the day, the answer's going to be no. And if it is, then I'm going to prepare a humanitarian trip because all sides appear to be willing at least to talk," Sharpton said in a telephone interview after a meeting at the Haitian consulate in New York City.

Also Tuesday, rebel leader Guy Philippe told The Associated Press he does not want to install a military dictatorship but is seeking to re-establish the army that was disbanded after ousting Aristide in 1991.

At a news conference in Port-au-Prince, Aristide made an emotional call for Haitians to stay in the country, instead of fleeing to Florida, so that they can vote in new elections.

"The criminals and terrorists went to the north, to Port-de-Paix, and burned private and public buses, killing people," Aristide said.

"Unfortunately many brothers and sisters in Port-de-Paix will not come down to Port-au-Prince; they will take to the sea, they will become boat people."

Asked if he was calling for a military intervention, Aristide clarified that he wanted the international community to strengthen Haiti's police force, under an old agreement with the Organization of American States.

Western diplomats in Port-au-Prince confirmed Tuesday that Aristide had asked France for a military intervention last week, though Aristide denies this.

French President Jacques Chirac said Tuesday his country is ready to consider contributing to any eventual peacekeeping force approved by the United Nations.

"France does not exclude contributing to a civilian force for peace," he said, adding however that such a deployment "depends on a decision of the Security Council."

Premier Yvon Neptune appealed to the political opposition coalition to agree to the peace plan, which Aristide has accepted. The plan would allow him to remain president with diminished powers, sharing with political rivals a government that would organize elections.

Even if the opposition coalition accepts the U.S. peace plan, the rebels insist they will lay down their arms only when Aristide is out of power.

Opposition leaders say they have no connection to the armed rebels. Rebel leaders are coy about whether a link exists.

The rebel leader Philippe, still in the second-largest city of Cap-Haitien that was seized Sunday, said in an interview with the AP that his movement wants to re-establish the army but is not interested in installing another dictatorship in Haiti.

A military dictatorship is "not good for the country," said Philippe, formerly Aristide's assistant police chief for northern Haiti. "The military should stay in the barracks."

Philippe said he was on his way to a Western Union office to pick up donations being sent by Haitians in the United States and Canada. He said his rebellion also was being funded by businessmen in Haiti.

More than half of Haiti now is beyond the control of the central government.

On Saturday, the State Department issued a warning to Americans that "it is unsafe to remain in Haiti in view of the deteriorating security situation." More than 20,000 Americans live there.

Ten years ago, the United States sent 20,000 troops to end a military dictatorship that had ousted Aristide in 1991, a year after he became Haiti's first freely elected leader. But Washington has made clear it won't commit a large number of troops this time.

Aristide, hugely popular when he was elected especially among the destitute in the Western hemisphere's poorest country, has since lost a lot of support. Opponents accuse the former priest of failing to help those in need, condoning corruption and masterminding attacks on opponents by armed gangs. Aristide denies the charges.

Flawed legislative elections in 2000 — in which several pro-Aristide senators won elections without facing a second round of voting because of a controversial vote-counting formula — led international donors to freeze millions of dollars in aid.