Aristide

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters):

HAITI'S EMBATTLED president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide agreed yesterday to a peace plan put forward by United States-led foreign mediators in a bid to end an armed revolt that has capped months of political tension.

Aristide had agreed to the same plan, which would involve setting up a broad-based advisory council to select a new, neutral prime minister and a new Cabinet, in talks with Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, nations last month.

The opposition, which is demanding that Aristide resign, rejected it at that time.

There was no word yet on whether the opposition would now agree to the plan put forward by the foreign delegation, which is in Port-au-Prince on an urgent mission to try to broker a solution to a crisis that flared into a bloody revolt in the impoverished Caribbean country two weeks ago.

Months of street protests, frequently attacked by armed Aristide loyalists, erupted into full revolt on February 5 when an armed gang that once supported Aristide kicked police out of the city of Gonaives.

The rebellion spread through northwest and central Haiti, killing more than 50 people, including over 20 police.

Foreigners have fled the country on the advice of their governments and in a sign Washington does not expect a quick fix to the turmoil, the United States ordered some U.S. Embassy staff to leave Haiti on Saturday.

"It is unsafe to remain in Haiti in view of the deteriorating security situation," the Depart-ment of State said in a statement, ordering family members and non-essential personnel of the embassy in Port-au-Prince to leave.

The delegation of U.S., Canadian, French and CARICOM officials were meeting with Aristide's political opponents on Saturday after securing the president's agreement to the plan.

The mediation focused on brokering a deal between Aristide and the opposition ­ business leaders, politicians and civil activists Aristide dismisses as a wealthy mulatto elite virulently opposed to Haiti being run by its poor, black majority.

NO INTENTION OF LEAVING

But the armed rebels, who have been joined by former soldiers from the disbanded army and a leader of a death squad that terrorised the country during a military dictatorship in the early 1990s, said they might accept such a deal if it meets their demands for Aristide to resign.

Aristide, a former parish priest once regarded as a champion of democracy in the Americas' poorest country, has been in a deadlock with political opponents since flawed parliamentary elections four years ago.

Now under even more pressure, Aristide has made clear he has no intention of leaving. On Saturday, he reiterated that he plans to stay until the end of his second term.

"Until my term ends in 2006 I'm going to work hard to create an environment in which to hold elections," he said.

Aristide also agreed to professionalise the Police Force, a key demand of opponents who say he has politicised the police, as well as using armed thugs to intimidate opponents.

Up to now, the political opposition has steadfastly clung to a demand that the president step down, a stance that has hampered past negotiations and could well place a major obstacle in the way of success at Saturday's talks.

Aristide first took office in 1991 but was ousted in a coup months later. He was restored to power by a U.S. invasion in 1994, and re-elected to a second term in 2000, but those elections were boycotted by the opposition.