Aristide agrees Haiti peace plan

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide agreed to a US-driven peace plan today to head a government with political opponents, saying rebels will be disarmed and a new government will hold elections.

But he emphasized: “I will not go ahead with any terrorists,” referring to rebels who have led a popular uprising that has killed more than 60 people in two weeks.

“We have agreed to have a new government with a new prime minister,” Aristide said after a two-hour-long meeting with a US-led diplomatic mission.

He indicated that he agreed because the diplomats promised the plan would help create “a safe environment” for elections.

He said the “thugs, terrorists and killers” leading the revolt would be disarmed, but did not immediately explain how.

Led by Roger Noriega, the top US diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, the high-powered delegation was then to take its plan to Haiti’s opposition leaders.

“The plan attempts to pull his (Aristide’s) teeth but doesn’t have the means,” opposition leader Evans Paul said, noting it does not require Aristide to resign and that there was no plan to deploy foreign troops to guarantee the agreements.

Today’s breakthrough came as the United States was urging citizens to leave the Caribbean country amid mounting violence by armed Aristide militants in government-held areas and rebel threats to take their uprising to Haiti’s second-largest city, the northern port of Cap-Haitien, over this Carnival weekend.

The plan requires the appointment of a commission to include government, opposition and international representatives by Tuesday.