Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday said the United States has no plans to intervene militarily in Haiti, which has been besieged by violent uprisings against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's rule."We have no plans to do anything," Rumsfeld said in a news conference.
"Everyone's hopeful that the situation which tends to ebb and flow down there, will stay below a certain threshold and ... we have no plans to do anything," Rumsfeld said when asked by a reporter whether the US military might be asked to intervene.
The populist Aristide was overthrown in a military coup but US former president Bill Clinton sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide to power.
Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, was elected again in 2000. Calls for his resignation multiplied after his party won 2000 legislative elections opponents said were marred by fraud, and tough government crackdowns on street demonstrations followed.
The impoverished Caribbean country has been thrown into chaos as civilian opposition groups and armed rebels press for Aristide's resignation.
At least 42 people have died since Thursday, when rebels took hold of Gonaives, Haiti's fourth largest city.
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