The first contingent of US Marines arrived in the chaotic Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Sunday night as the UN Security Council approves the deployment of an interim multinational force to the Caribbean country.

"An initial contingent of US troops arrived in Haiti just as the (UN Security) Council voted," US Ambassador John Negroponte to the United Nations said in New York.

In Washington, Pentagon said in a statement that US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will deploy more troops in the coming days.

"U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered additional U.S. forces to deploy as necessary over the next several days to fill out the U.S. contribution to a multinational interim force," the statement said.

"The final size of the contribution to the multinational interim force is to be determined," it added.