Lull Before Worst Storm In Haiti?

Government supporters who robbed motorists and careened around firing into the air from hijacked trucks disappeared from the streets of Port-au_Prince Saturday, acting on an appeal from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, but looters pillaged the seaport in Haiti's capital.

Rebel leader Guy Philippe told The Associated Press that his fighters would hold off attacking Port-au-Prince "for a day or two," in response to a U.S. appeal he said he saw on the Internet.

But with the city already low on food and fuel, Philippe intends to blockade its port, and boost its desperation, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassman.

"With Haiti now on a political deathwatch," says Strassman, "Aristide backers marched through the capital Saturday, urging him to stay in power.

"But with panic high, and not a cop in sight, Port-au-Prince (generally) remains a paradise for thugs. Killings and lootings are now twin epidemics," he adds.

Rebels were seen by an Associated Press reporter on Friday within 25 miles of the capital at Mirebalais.

Some 2,200 U.S. Marines were put on alert as Pentagon officials weighed the possibility of sending troops to waters off Haiti to guard against any flood of refugees and to protect the estimated 20,000 Americans in the Caribbean country.

"The small force of American marines put on alert would be able to evacuate Americans, stabilize the capital or perhaps be used in the event of an increase in refugees - but would be able to do little to control a nation in turmoil," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, who was staff director of the Congressional subcommittee that dealt with the last Haiti crisis.

"The multinational force led by American forces which were sent to Haiti in 1994 was authorized by the U.N. and involved 21,000 troops," Falk added, "so let's just hope negotiators are able to find common ground for a political settlement sooner rather than later."

The Haitian capital became further isolated when Air France canceled all its flights. American Airlines and Air Jamaica had canceled earlier.

Underscoring growing panic, 200 people rushed to try to board a nine-seat plane headed to the Dominican Republic. France, Brazil, Canada and the United States sent military planes with soldiers Saturday to evacuate their citizens.

And Haitians trying to flee on boats were being intercepted by U.S. Coast Guard cutters.

Some 350 Haitians repatriated under the guard of U.S. Marines walked off the dock into a crowd of government supporters who chanted "Aristide, Aristide, Aristide" as gunfire rang out. It was unclear who was firing, but no one was reported hurt.

The general hospital morgue, however, was filling with bodies - up to 30 were brought in since Friday, said Dr. Ted Lazarre.

The body of an executed man was sprawled, shot in the head with his hands tied behind his back, outside a suburban hospital. Two bodies lay at the pillaged port, one of them blindfolded.

"I've seen bullets fly, people falling (dead) in the street, but these events are worse," said hospital worker Moise Faustin, 58.

At the seaport, thousands of people looted humanitarian aid provided by USAID and an apparent shipment of medical supplies.

With machetes tucked into their waists, looters strode in blue hospital gowns and blue surgical facemasks through ankle-deep trash rotted in the scorching sun.

Women streamed out bearing bales of plastic hospital bed sheets while others staggered under the weight of 110-pound sacks of lentils stamped "USAID" and "Not For Sale or Exchange."

Others scurried out with bicycle parts, table lamps and cans of Asian food.

Looters set up a thriving black market near the shattered doors of the freight terminal, selling the lentils for the equivalent of $6 and cornmeal for $4 for a 55-pound sack.

Others scurried out with bicycle parts, table lamps and cans of Asian food as government militants outside roared around shouting "five years!" to emphasize their demands that Aristide serve his elected five-year term that expires February 2006.

Aristide vowed to remain in office, despite calls from the rebels and an opposition coalition for him to step down. The United States and France also suggested he bow out.

"No, I will not resign," Aristide said on state television Friday night. "I will fulfill my turn and I will not allow criminals and terrorists to take over."

Food prices have multiplied in the capital since the popular uprising erupted Feb. 5 in Gonaives and rebels swiftly cut off supplies from the agriculture-rich Artibonite district. The rebels have gathered hundreds of volunteers as they chased Haiti's outgunned police force from a score of towns and overran more than half of the country.

Philippe said Saturday that while his rebels will continue to converge near the capital, he will hold off attacking for a day or two in response to U.S. appeals, which he said he had read on the Web.

Speaking from his base in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city that the rebels captured last Sunday, he said he had not been contacted directly by U.S. officials.

The U.S. Embassy, which has rebuffed Aristide's pleas to send a small peacekeeping force, late Friday urged Haiti's leader to tell his followers to stop "spreading terror and attacking civilians and the general population ... in the name of Jean-Bertrand Aristide."

The statement also asked the rebels to halt their advance.

Aristide urged his followers to let people go about their duties in the day, but added, "We can put up barricades at night to ensure they (rebels) don't attack us."

There were reports Saturday that South Africa may be sending weapons to the Haitian government - though government officials could not be reached to confirm this. Die Burger newspaper reported that a military aircraft was scheduled to fly early in the week with 150 R1 rifles, 200 smoke grenades, 200 bullet proof vests and 5,000 rounds of ammunition for Haiti.

Radio Vision 2000 suspended broadcasts after assailants shot at the building early Saturday morning - apparently because of reports critical of Aristide.

Despite the anarchy, Aristide urged the government's 46,000 employees to go back to work on Monday and called for schools to reopen.

Aristide loyalists robbed drivers for the U.S. and French embassies early Saturday, and beat up the French Embassy driver, witnesses said.

Such attacks have increased since Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin suggested Aristide cede power for the good of his Caribbean nation of 8 million people.

Aristide, Haiti's first freely elected president in Haiti's 200-year history of military and civilian dictatorships, said his departure would irreparably hurt democracy.

A former priest, Aristide was wildly popular but has lost support since flawed legislative elections in 2000. International donors froze aid and as poverty deepened, opposition grew. Aristide denies charges that he uses police and armed militants to crush opposition.

The international community - led by the United States, France and Canada - has insisted that Haiti's government and opposition reach a political settlement before foreign forces intervene.