PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 2 (UPI) -- Rebel forces that swept into the Haitian capital this week established themselves Tuesday as the Caribbean nation's standing army, while order appeared to return to some parts of the city.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe told reporters that "I am the chief," meaning the head of the military. The 36-year-old former military officer said he had no political aspirations.
"The president is the legal president, so we follow his orders," said Philippe, referring to Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre.
The new Haitian leader was sworn in Sunday following the departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose two terms in Haiti's highest office were both cut short by coups.
Sunday's departure of the president came after years of rumblings by his opponents that his 2000 election was flawed and that Aristide was guilty of crimes including human rights violations and corruption.
In the early 1990s, Aristide was forced from office by the military, only to be restored to power in 1994 when President Clinton sent 20,000 U.S. troops to help reinstate him.
Aristide disbanded the military the following year, creating widespread animosity among its ranks, many of whom comprise the rebel forces that drove into the city this week.
The rebels began their campaign to force Aristide's resignation on Feb. 5, when they took over the northern port city of Gonaive and systematically took town after town until reaching the capital. Their singular objective leading up to Aristide's flight to the Central African Republic, according to Philippe, was merely the president's resignation.
However, it now appears, the rebels -- turned Haiti's self-styled military -- are intent on making their presence a permanent fixture on the nation's landscape. Their proclaimed commitment to put down their arms when a new leader takes office, appears to conflict with their actions.
"We can disarm within two days if the president (Alexandre) wants us to," Philippe said, moments after claiming to be in charge of the nation's reconstituted army.
The rebels said they had been working with the civilian police -- members of which who were guarding Philippe at his Port-au-Prince hotel room -- to flush out the armed gunmen loyal to Aristide that roamed the capital with impunity in recent weeks.
Known locally as the Chimere, named after the fierce mythical creature, armed men and teenage boys loyal to the former leader killed dozens of Haitians suspected of opposing the president and regularly looted shops and hospitals.
With their president gone and the rebels in town, the Chimere have gone into hiding. No armed civilians have been stopped in the city for nearly two days.
The handiwork of rebel and police retribution killings of the Chimere are evident everywhere. Since Sunday, dozens of execution-style killings were committed in and around Port-au-Prince, the bodies sometimes remaining in the streets for hours.
On Tuesday, along John Brown Blvd. -- named for the famous American abolitionist -- the body of a young man lay in the streets where sidewalk merchants returned to business selling vegetables and housewares. Haitians were forced to step around the bloody corpse as traffic was backed up along the boulevard, a sign that things are returning to normal.
In other parts of the city, people appeared to be trying to return to their everyday lives. Gas stations that have been closed for days for fear of being looted -- many were destroyed on Sunday -- reopened under the watch of armed security personnel.
At the Port-au-Prince port, U.S. Marines -- who arrived in the capital early Monday -- made their presence known in the area known as a hotbed for Chimere and Aristide sympathizers.
Col. Dave Berger told reporters at the Marine's temporary base at Port-au-Prince Airport that there would be forays into the city Tuesday, although he would not give details as to their exact locations. He told United Press International that Marines were stationed at the presidential palace -- confirming earlier rumors of their presence -- and that they had heard shots fired at the building but did not return fire. Later in the day, six U.S. military vehicles, including Humvees equipped with heavy arms, were seen parked within the fenced-in perimeter of the palace.
The Marines are also working alongside French and Canadian forces to return order and ensure security, said Berger.
He added that the U.S. forces had neither contact with the rebels nor any intentions of doing talking to them. On Monday, he warned any and all groups whether they were pro- or anti-Aristide to not interfere with the U.S. mission. He said any that do will see an "appropriate" use of force.
The rebels on the other hand seemed to have a different perspective on possible relations with the United States and other international troops. Philippe said to UPI Tuesday that he "considers the international forces helpful in the return of order to the country" and "hoped to work with them to restore security."
However, the possibility of any working relationship between U.S. forces and Haitian rebels seemed unlikely Tuesday following comments by Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega in Washington that Philippe was "not in control of anything but a ragtag band of people."
Meanwhile, Philippe and his rebels appeared to be trying to further assert their control in the capital when they converged on the former army headquarters near the palace -- which had been converted to a museum after the army's disbanding. They reclaimed the building as their own.
Thousands of Haitians watched rebels throw paintings and sculptures into the street and burn them.
Later, the rebel leader appeared to be testing the temperament of U.S. forces when he called on his supporters to follow him to the office of Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who Philippe said would face corruption charges.
A small contingent of U.S. Marines was seen on the grounds of Neptune's office late in the afternoon. A few moments later, the Marines were seen by UPI escorting an unidentified man from the grounds.
The whereabouts of Neptune could not be verified late in the day.
