Marines protect US embassy in Haiti

US Marines were protecting the country’s embassy in Haiti today as rebels threatened to attack the capital in a bid to overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

An opposition coalition was on the brink yesterday of rejecting a US-backed peace plan because it did not require Aristide to resign. But US Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned opposition politicians and persuaded them to delay their formal response for 24 hours, according to Evans Paul, a leading opponent once allied with Aristide.