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Diplomats head to Haiti, aiming to end uprising

U.S. military assessment team arrives in Port-au-Prince

A woman shouts in front of the Heroes Monument during a rally against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
A woman shouts in front of the Heroes Monument during a rally against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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CNN's Lucia Newman reports on the revolt in Haiti as demonstrators demand President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resign.
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Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is vowing to fight to the end to protect democracy and his regime.
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(Contains graphic images of violence) Rebels led by formerly exiled paramilitaries take over more cities in Haiti.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- A multinational team including delegates from the United States, France and other governments is expected Saturday in Haiti in an effort to end a bloody rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

As protests rocked the Haitian capital, a small team from the U.S. Southern Command arrived in Port-au-Prince to assess the security situation for the U.S. Embassy and the estimated 20,000 Americans in the troubled nation.

The U.S. ambassador to Haiti requested the security team's assistance, Defense Department officials said Thursday.

Aside from security issues, the team will also monitor the situation for refugees fleeing to the United States, the officials said.

As the team arrived in Port-au-Prince, the capital was seething with violent demonstrations by students and labor unions against Aristide. More than two weeks of turbulence have wracked Haiti.

Several people were injured, including a reporter for a Haitian radio station who was shot twice, and a foreign journalist who was hit in the back of the head with a brick.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said Thursday that he is ready to die to save Haiti from rebels trying to unseat him.

Speaking at a funeral for police officers killed in the violent uprising, Aristide vowed not to step down despite the bloody and spreading rebellion.

"I am ready to give my life if that is what it takes to defend my country," Aristide said during the funeral ceremony in Port-au-Prince.

"If wars are expensive, peace can be even more expensive," said Aristide, who has survived three assassination attempts and a coup d'etat.

The United States, together with other governments, is working on a political plan to try and end the rebellion.

Officials from the United States, France, Canada, the Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States make up the team due to arrive in Haiti on Saturday, and ambassadors from those nations and groups will present the plan to Aristide's government and the opposition.

The team will meet with Aristide's government and with the political opposition to follow up on the details of the plan, a state department official said. (Full story)

The rebellion erupted February 5 in Gonaives, and the rebels have been most active in the North.

Former Aristide supporters have joined with their once sworn enemies -- paramilitary and military leaders who had supported the former military dictatorship -- to oust the president.

These forces returned from exile in the Dominican Republic a few days ago and are believed to be heavily armed.

Opponents of Aristide say his government is corrupt, and the opposition is calling for new elections.

U.S. Defense Department officials said the U.S. military is prepared to evacuate Americans from the country if necessary.

The Bush administration and other world leaders have previously said they would not intervene until Aristide takes steps to end the violence and enter into a dialogue with the political opposition.

Aristide's turbulent past

Discontent has grown in Haiti, home to 8 million people, since Aristide's party swept legislative elections in 2000.

Aristide, a priest who preached revolution to Haiti's poor, won elections in 1990 to become the country's first freely elected leader. He was ousted in a coup in 1991 and was restored to power when the United States sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994.

Nearly 40,000 Haitians fled the country after the 1991 coup. Many of those risked death to attempt the 600-mile passage to Florida in small, overcrowded boats.

Aristide disbanded the army in 1995. In its place, the country has a 5,000-member police force that is outnumbered and outgunned by the rebels in outlying posts.

CNN's Lucia Newman, Barbara Starr and Elise Labott contributed to this report.


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