Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide announced Saturday that he accepted the international peace plan that included the appointment of a new prime minister, according to reports from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Aristide declared in the Presidential Palace after a meeting with an international mediation delegation that he entirely accepted the plan.

"I accepted the plan, publicly and entirely...In one word, yes," said the president who was under huge pressure in the past two weeks as his opposition waged bloody attacks to oust him.

The embittered president was forced to drop his persistence in vetoing the appointment of a new prime minister that would take significant powers from him, including the control of the internationally trained police force.

The plan would bring in a new "multi-party" government, in which Aristide could hold his office until its 2006 expiration.

The president said he accepted the plan because it allowed "a safe environment" for the elections.

The opposition groups, who once insisted on Aristide's resignation, also seemed to have loosened their firmness after meeting with an international mediation delegation.

They agreed to consider the peace plan and would come up with a final decision by the Monday deadline set by the delegation.

JOURNALIST WOUNDED IN REBEL VIOLENCE

More than 60 people have been killed in the clashes that flared on Feb. 5 in Haiti. Some journalists covering the violence were also sadly found on the casualty list.

Pierre Elie Sem, owner of Haitian radio station Hispagnola en Trou du Nord, remained in critical condition after being shot by unidentified gunmen Saturday in the northern town of Cap Haitien. He was later reported to have died from serious wound.

On Friday, another Haitian radio reporter was shot and injured at a protest in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, a Spanish television cameraman was struck in the head with a machete.

FOREIGNERS HASTENED TO LEAVE, POLICE ABANDON POSTS

The US State Department on Saturday ordered non-essential US diplomatic personnel to leave Haiti amid rising political unrest in the Caribbean nation.

"The Department of State has ordered the departure of all family members and non-emergency personnel of the US embassy in Port-au-Prince," the department said in a travel warning.

The decision to evacuate non-essential diplomatic staff came after a four-member US military team visited the Haitian capital over the weekend to assess the security of the US embassy there.

The department also decided to evacuate US Peace Corps volunteers attached to the US embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Mexico on Saturday also urged their citizens to leave the violence-torn country. "The embassy of Mexico in Haiti has been ordered to make contact with Mexican families and aid them in leaving the country while out-bound commercial flights would keep operating in the conflict zone," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Haitian policemen also joined the panic foreigners and hastened to leave their posts. Large in-flows of Haitians have forced the neighboring Dominican Republic to strengthen controls over its border with Haiti.

Haitian insurgents attempted Saturday to take by assault a market in Santo Domingo, the capital city of Dominican Republic, near the border city of Dajabon, where some escaped Haitian policemen were detained.

As Haiti has no military force, the rebels always attacked policemen for arms.

JAMAICA TO DEPLOY TROOPS IN HAITI

The Jamaican government announced Saturday to dispatch troops to Haiti in a bid to restore peace in the country.

The decision was taken despite the Senate's opposition asserting that the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)had not enough troops to send a peace force to Haiti, reports from Jamaica's capital city of Kingston said.

Jamaican Foreign Minister Delano Franklyn said that after the necessary procedures, the troops could be dispatched.

The minister also indicated that none of the 20 Haitians who took refugee last Thursday in Jamaica requested political asylum.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2004)