Haitian rebel leader, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, in front of a burning police station in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, yesterday. Rebels yesterday seized the government's last major bastion in the north, Cap-Haitien, shooting off celebratory rounds in the air as people looted and torched several buildings, sending a pall of black smoke over the city. (Photo: AP)

Rebels captured Haiti's second-largest city with little resistance yesterday, claiming Cap-Haitien as their biggest prize in a two-week uprising that has driven government forces from half the country.

They have vowed to push next for the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, initially raising anxiety in Kingston for the safety of junior foreign minister, Delano Franklyn - who was part of an international mission in the city to defuse the crisis - and fears that an exodus of Haitian refugees could overwhelm Jamaica. Franklyn returned to Jamaica late last night, the foreign ministry said.
At least 30 Haitian boat people have arrived in Jamaica over the past week as the violence aimed at ousting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide intensified and officials say that this is already putting stress on Jamaica's limited resources.

"If more come it would place a strain on our resources and eventually we will seek help from third parties, including Caribbean countries and international aid agencies," said Donovan Nelson, the spokesman for the national security ministry, which has been leading the Jamaican government's response to the potential humanitarian crisis.

In Cap-Hatien yesterday, the rebel fighters fired celebratory rounds as people looted and torched the police station and other buildings. A pall of black smoke hung over the city.
Rebels said their force of about 200 only really fought at the airport, where they said eight people were killed in fighting with militant civilians loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Haitian rebel leader, Guy Philippe, is greeted as he arrives at Mon Joli Hotel in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, yesterday. Rebels captured Haiti's second-largest city with little resistance, their biggest prize in a two-week uprising that has driven government forces from half the country. (Photo: AP)

Aristide supporters commandeered a plane from the airport. Witnesses said those who fled on it included seven police officers and former Aristide lawmaker, Nawoum Marcellus, whose Radio Africa had been inciting violence against opponents.

"We came in today and we took Cap-Haitien, tomorrow we take Port-au-Prince" the capital, boasted Lucien Estime, 19, who joined the popular rebellion from a hamlet south of Cap-Haitien. "Our mission is to liberate Haiti."
The victory left more than half of Haiti beyond control of the central government, setting off tremors of panic in Port-au-Prince.
Sources close to the government told The Associated Press that several Cabinet ministers were asking friends for places to hide.

Rebel leader Guy Philippe vowed to take Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince over Carnival festivities that end tomorrow night. He said rebels hidden in the capital were poised to attack.
On the highway leading north from Port-au-Prince, Aristide partisans set up flaming barricades yesterday to block the way.
In Cap-Haitien, thousands shouting "Aristide fini!" - "Aristide is finished" - marched along with about 40 rebels in commandeered cars.

"We're free!" people shouted, ripping Aristide posters off walls.
Some looted Marcellus' radio station. Then rebels shot up the building and set it ablaze, to applause from the crowd.
Reporters saw four bodies on the streets, and doctors said a 12 year-old girl was also shot and killed. At least one rebel was wounded.

Earlier, about 10 armed men stormed the police station and freed about 250 prisoners. The police fled and the prisoners armed themselves, witness Ordil Jean said.
Haiti's ill-equipped and demoralised police force of less than 4,000 has been the prime target of the insurgents, who have torched a score of police stations since the rebellion erupted February 5. At least 40 officers are among the 70 people killed since then.

In Cap-Haitien, many residents who had been allegedly terrorised by Aristide militants expressed joy at the rebel victory.
"The people are happy. Finally we're free from terror," said Fifi Jean, 30, unperturbed as she stood in front of the blazing police headquarters, watching the looting.

Teenagers paraded in police hats and body armour as rebels, swigging from beer bottles, handed over car keys to residents. People hefted away weapons, typewriters, mattresses, even doors.
Thousands of people then looted the seaport, pushing away cars and loading goods onto hand carts.

But many residents stayed home, bolting their doors and peering fearfully from balconies onto streets littered with bullet casings.
Rebel commander Jean-Baptiste Joseph, formerly head of an association of ex-soldiers, declared Haiti's disbanded army had liberated Cap-Haitien.
"It's the army that's in charge here. It's the army that will free Haiti."

He confirmed the attackers were led by Guy Philippe, a former police chief who has threatened for days to attack Cap-Haitien, a city of about 500,000. Philippe had led a failed coup against Aristide in 2002 and had fled to neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Also in town was Louis-Jodel Chamblain, co-leader of an army death squad that killed hundreds of Aristide supporters in the 1990s.
"The plan is we're gong to march to Port-au-Prince to the National Palace and expel Aristide," Chamblain told The Associated Press as he waited to share a celebratory dinner with Philippe at Cap-Haitien's Mont Joli Hotel.

"Right now, we need to give the population security, that's why we're fighting," he said when asked what was planned by the rebels, who previously have said they have no agenda beyond ousting Aristide. "We'll take this step by step."

Philippe also was an officer in the army when it ousted Aristide in 1991 and instigated a reign of terror until the United States sent 20,000 troops in 1994 to end the military dictatorship and halt an exodus of boat people to Florida.
Aristide, wildly popular when he became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990, has lost support since flawed legislative elections in 2000 that led international donors to freeze millions of dollars in aid.

Opponents accuse him of breaking promises to help the poor, allowing corruption fuelled by drug-trafficking and masterminding attacks on opponents by armed gangs - charges the president denies.
The United States, which blames Aristide for the crisis, has made clear it has no appetite for a new military adventure in Haiti.

Instead, diplomats on Saturday presented a US-backed peace plan in which Aristide would remain president with diminished powers, sharing with political rivals a government that would organise elections. The broad outlines of that plan were developed by Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders at meetings in the Bahamas and Jamaica late last month and Aristide signed on to it at a summit hosted by Prime Minister P J Patterson on January 31.
But immediately after that, the violence in Haiti intensified with former death squad and coup leaders coming out of hiding and taking towns. The formal opposition has claimed not to be part of this group but has not denounced their actions.

While Aristide accepted the plan that was put to him on Saturday, he indicated he would not negotiate with the soldiers who had ousted him in 1991. It was resisted by the opposition coalition Democratic Platform, which says any plan must include Aristide's resignation.
The opposition has said it will respond formally to the plan by 5:00 pm (22:00 GMT) today.
"This is their last chance. If they say no, they are saying no to the international community," a senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity in Port-au-Prince.
- AP and Observer reporters

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