Rebels rolled into the Haitian capital Port au Prince today and were met by hundreds of residents dancing in the streets and cheering the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
US Marines and French troops secured key sites. People clapped and waved as they yelled "Good job!" and called out the name of key rebel leader Guy Philippe.
When the rebels arrived at the plaza outside the National Palace and a nearby police station, thousands of Haitians converged on the square, shouting "Liberty!" and "Aristide is gone!"
A half-dozen Marines in combat fatigues and carrying assault rifles could be seen on the grounds of the palace. The rebels and the Marines did not immediately approach each other.
Col David Berger, head of the US Marine contingent
Scores of US Marines and French forces spread out from Port-au-Prince's airport to protect key sites the vanguard of a multinational force approved by the UN Security Council.
Col David Berger, head of the US Marine contingent, described the capital as "definitely not a hostile environment" for U.S. troops.
"Most of (Haitians) are going to welcome us. We're glad to be here," he said at the city's airport.
Mr Aristide, who fled Haiti under pressure from the rebels, the political opposition, the United States and France, arrived earlier today in the Central African Republic for "a few days," according to the country's state radio.
Mr Aristide said in a short broadcast on the African station that those who overthrew him had "cut down the tree of peace," but "it will grow again." Aristide has come back before, in 1994, three years after being ousted by a military coup.