Embattled Aristide flees Haiti

Faced with an armed rebellion and pressured by the US and France, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left his troubled Caribbean country yesterday, saying he wanted to avert bloodshed.

US ambassador to Haiti James Foley said international military forces "will rapidly be in Haiti" and urged the rebels who forced out the president to lay down their arms.

Mr Aristide left early yesterday morning, 24 days after the uprising began in the poorest country in the Americas.