Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe met with top opposition figure Evans Paul Monday in the capital ofPort-au-Prince, reports arriving here said.

It was the first meeting between the rebels and opposition leaders. Present at the meeting was rebel commander Louis-Jodel Chamblain, who once led a paramilitary group known as the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti which killed hundreds ofpeople between 1991 and 1994.

Paul, a senior member of the Democratic Platform coalition and the former mayor of the capital, said during the talks that Philippe "has played an important role".

While more than 70 armed rebels arrived in Port-au-Prince Monday morning, Philippe explained to reporters that they came to protect the presidential palace and make preparations for new President Boniface Alexandre, former chief judge of Haiti's Supreme Court.

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Sunday resigned under mounting pressure from foreign nations, rebels and political opponents and went into exile in the Central African Republic.

According to Haiti's constitution, after Aristide's resignation,chief judge Alexandre should take up the post of president.