Pentagon says no orders issued to deploy US troops off Haiti

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 28, 2004

Pentagon says no orders issued to deploy US troops off Haiti

The Pentagon said Friday that the United States was considering sending three warships with 2,200 Marines to sit off Haiti's coast as a precautionary measure, but no decision had been made.

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The Pentagon said Friday that the United States was considering sending three warships with 2,200 Marines to sit off Haiti's coast as a precautionary measure, but no decision had been made.

"We have no deployment orders, and no ships are moving," said Lieutenant Jason Salata, a Navy spokesman in reaction to reports about the possible US military deployment.

US television networks said an Amphibious Ready Group led by the helicopter carrier Saipan from Norfolk, Virginia was prepared to go to Haiti as one of the contingency options.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whiteman said the US military "continues to have contingency plans for all possible operations."

US President George W. Bush said Friday that the international community is "planning for a multinational force" that could be sent into Haiti if needed, but only after a political settlement of the tiny Caribbean nation's burgeoning insurgent crisis.

"We're planning for a multinational force that would go in and make sure that if aid needed to be delivered, or there needed to be some stability, that it could go in, dependent upon a political settlement," Bush told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Embattled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Tuesday called for international help, warning that a rebel uprising could lead to thousands of deaths and a wave of boat people.

French officials have called for the "immediate" creation of aninternational civilian peace force to restore order to Haiti.

The United States sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide to power after a coup.

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