Rebel fighters are converging on the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and waiting for the order to attack, their leader said today.

Foreigners, some guarded by US Marines, were fleeing Haiti in droves today, as looting erupted in the capital and pressure grew for an international intervention and for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down.

Militants loyal to Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have attacked protesters demanding he resign with barrages of shotgun fire, stones and bottles.

HAITI'S government yesterday rejected proposals that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide step down to end a bloody uprising, while rebels threatened the Caribbean nation's second-largest city.

Haiti’s second-largest city was under threat from rebels today as frightened police barricaded themselves inside their station saying they could not repel an attack on the last major government bastion in the north.