Haiti plunges deeper into crisis

HAITI plunged deeper into crisis yesterday as political opponents of President Jean Bertrand Aristide rejected international appeals to accept a power-sharing plan that stops short of the embattled leader's departure.

At the same time, the United States ordered the departure of most of its remaining diplomats, citing unstable security amid the spread of an armed insurgency.

The move by the US State Department is likely to fuel an exodus from Haiti of hundreds of US, Canadian and French citizens, mostly aid workers and missionaries, spurred by increasingly dire warnings that the country might descend into anarchy.

After talks with Aristide's political foes, an urgently dispatched diplomatic mediation team conceded it had made no progress in convincing the opposition to drop its demands for the president's removal but held out hope for a compromise.

"While we did not get a yes, we did not get a no," said Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell of the Bahamas who spoke for the international team.

Mr Mitchell said the talks had been "very frank and direct" and that the opposition had agreed to provide a final response to the power-sharing plan.

Aristide himself had earlier embraced the proposal, declaring his willingness to work with the opposition on its implementation but also insisted he would not step down until his term in office ends in 2006.

"I accept the plan, publicly, completely and entirely," he said.

The plan would allow Aristide to serve out his term but without significant powers, which would be ceded to a new prime minister acceptable to the opposition and a new government that would hold free and fair elections.

The proposal envisages the creation of a council - with members representing Aristide, the opposition and the international community - that would set up an advisory commission to select the new premier.

As the talks were under way, the director of the last radio station providing independent news in the city of Cap Haitien was shot and critically wounded by gunmen, the latest in a series of attacks blamed mainly on pro-Aristide gangs.

The rebels have extended their reach in Haiti's north and centre which has resulted in looting and arson, according to residents.