Haitian rebels expand power base

REBELS set their sights on the rest of Haiti yesterday after swooping in to take the country’s second-largest city in an escalation of a bloody rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The move prompted the US to send in marines to protect its embassy.

With the rebels in control of Cap Haitien, Washington was sending about 50 marines to protect its embassy in the capital of Port-au-Prince. France, the former colonial power in the poorest country in the Americas, joined several other foreign governments and told its citizens to leave the country, wracked by violence that has killed more than 50 people since the revolt began on February 5.

Seizing their biggest prize so far, a ski-masked-clad rebel force of about 200 overran the northern city of Cap Haitien, a city of about 500,000, on Sunday, putting anti-Aristide forces in control of much of the north.

Gunfire rattled through the streets of Cap Haitien and columns of smoke rose from at least two buildings on Sunday when rebels took control of the airport.

Cap Haitien appeared calm a day after the rebels struck. Cows ambled by the side of the runway at the airport and people on bicycles went about their normal business.

Joking and relaxed, a rebel leader said his comrades would soon take over the rest of the country. “We will liberate Haiti from the slavery of Aristide,” said Louis Jodel Chamblain.