Britons warned to leave Haiti

[Sazz]

Britons were advised to leave Haiti today as rebels threatened to overthrow the Caribbean country's government.

The Foreign Office had been advising against all travel to Haiti, which borders the Dominican Republic, since February 13.

Today it said: 'We advise against all travel to Haiti and all British nationals in Haiti are advised to leave the country if they can do so safely.

'A highly volatile security situation prevails throughout the country, and rebels have taken up positions outside the capital Port-au-Prince.'

Rebels set their sights on the rest of Haiti on Monday after swooping in to take the country's second-largest city, Cap Haitien, in an escalation of a bloody rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, prompting the United States to send in Marines to protect its embassy.

With the rebels now in control of Cap Haitien and determined to move on, Washington was sending about 50 US Marines to protect its embassy in the capital of Port-au-Prince, a US official said on Monday.

France, the former colonial power in the poorest country in the Americas, also told its citizens to leave the country, wracked by violence that has killed more than 50 people since the revolt began on February 5.