"We have no deployment orders and no ships are moving," said Lieutenant Jason Salata, a navy spokesman.

Reports said that a ready group led by the USS Saipan was prepared to head toward Haiti in the Caribbean.

Pentagon officials said that while contingency planning was under way, the emphasis remained on finding a political solution to the crisis.

"There is nothing at the moment beyond the State Department effort to resolve it in a political manner," a Pentagon official said.

"The US military continues to have contingency plans for all possible operations," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

According to CNN, one of the scenarios consisted of sending a group of three ships with 2,200 marines aboard to remove US citizens, evacuate the US embassy or help Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide to exile.

"It is not the military options that are being pursued with the same vigor as the diplomatic option," said a senior defense official.

The crisis in Haiti has worsened in recent days and several countries, including the United States, have all but asked Aristide, the elected president, to resign.

WAR.WIRE