WASHINGTON, Feb 29: President George W. Bush ordered the immediate deployment of US Marines to Haiti on Sunday to head off a power struggle and restore stability after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and flew into exile under American pressure in the face of an armed rebellion.

The Marines were supposed to land in the violence-torn Caribbean nation later on Sunday (Monday morning) to serve as the vanguard for a multinational security force, officials said.

With Aristide gone, Bush appealed to the people of Haiti to stop the violence, and said the United States was prepared to help start "a new chapter in the country's history," though he did not spell out how. Minutes after the announcement, a Haitian rebel leader told CNN: "We don't intent to fight anymore," and welcomed Bush's decision to send in the Marines.

Haitian Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre was named to replace Aristide as laid out in the constitution. The US State Department said Prime Minister Yvon Neptune would serve as Haiti's head of government until a successor is appointed "in the next days."

"We call on all Haitians to respect this peaceful and constitutional succession and to refrain from any actions that will undermine national reconciliation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Criticized for responding slowly to defuse the revolt and for failing to mediate a viable alternative to Aristide, Washington feared that rebels would fill the power vacuum in a nation with a history of coups and political violence.

"I have ordered the deployment of Marines as the leading element of an interim international force to help bring order and stability to Haiti," President Bush said. -Reuters