Ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide called on Haitians to peacefully resist the "unacceptable occupation" of his country in an interview broadcast by French radio RTL on Monday.

"The Haitian people resist and must continue to finalize a peaceful resistance to face down this unacceptable occupation thatfollows this political kidnapping which is also unacceptable," said Aristide, who flew into exile on March 1 in the Central African Republic.

"We are trying to see how we (carry on) resistance," he said. "Resistance is not the affair of just one individual...It is the affair of all those who believe in the values we all defend."

RTL said the former president's remarks were abstracted from a telephone conversation with one of his friends, but it did not indicate when the conversation happened.

Haiti has been plunged into ongoing turmoil since Feb. 5, when armed rebels seized the northern city of Gonaives in order to force Aristide to resign.

Aristide fled into exile in the Central African Republic after rebels took control of the country's most important cities.

After Aristide's departure, US marines began arriving in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince as the United Nations Security Council endorsed the deployment of a multinational force in the country.

Last Friday, thousands of supporters of Aristide poured into the streets of Port-au-Prince, demanding his return and denouncingthe "occupation" of their homeland by US forces.

This was the first massive protest since the ousted president fled Haiti.