Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide paraded through the streets of Port-au-Prince, chanting anti-American slogans and demanding the return of the exiled former leader as US Marines looked on warily.

The Marines along with French troops have been securing key sites in the capital, including the presidential palace, the office of the prime minister and the port, in a bid to restore order after chaos erupted after Aristide resigned and fled the country on Sunday.

That mission expanded on Friday to the cities of Cap Haitien and Gonaives, both of which had been strongholds of anti-Aristide rebels who played a key role in the former president's fall from power.

"There are US forces that are moving into other areas of Haiti to do security," said Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Timothy Edwards, a spokesman for the US contingent.

He said the small teams of helicopter-borne soldiers would be assessing the needs of the Haitian national police in Cap Haitien and Gonaives as well as determining the possible scope of future international troop deployments there.

The rebellion was launched in northwest city of Gonaives on February 5 and quickly spread in the region. Cap Haitien, in the north, is Haiti's second largest city and fell to the rebels on February 22 just a week before Aristide, under heavy US and French pressure, left the country.

Back in the capital, US and French troops joined Haitian police for a second day of foot patrols through the streets intended to dissuade would-be lawbreakers.

They did not interfere with the large pro-Aristide, anti-US rally that marched from the palace to the embassy and then to the port, waving portraits of the ex-president and revolutionary Che Guevara.

At various points, Creole-language chants of "Foreigners go come and come back with Aristide" and "Long Live Fidel Castro" rose up from the crowd as it moved through the streets, according to witnesses, who said the Cuban leader's name was being used to taunt the US troops.

Witnesses estimated the size of the crowd at between 3,000 and 4,000.

WAR.WIRE