Haiti’s Leaders Agree to Quit : Clinton Recalls Planes; Troops to Enter Today : Caribbean: A clearly relieved President announces the breakthrough. Carter mission negotiates a deal under which Aristide will resume presidency after military junta receives an amnesty from Parliament.

With the U.S. paratroopers leading an invasion force already in the air, Haiti’s top military leaders agreed to step down Sunday night and permit exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to power--although not as soon as the Clinton Administration had originally demanded.

A clearly relieved President Clinton announced the deal in a televised speech from the Oval Office just hours after a delegation led by former President Jimmy Carter completed two days of arduous negotiations on terms for the transition of power.

“Our objective . . . has been to make sure that the military dictators leave power and that the democratically elected government is returned,” Clinton said. “This agreement guarantees both those objectives.”

Clinton said that paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne, loaded on 61 aircraft, were already in the air Sunday night before Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the army commander, and Brig. Gen. Philippe Biamby, the army chief of staff, finally agreed to quit.

Under the agreement, Cedras and Biamby may remain in their positions until Oct. 15 or until Parliament passes an amnesty law, whichever comes first. U.S. officials said Cedras demanded a blanket pardon for him and the rest of the army for crimes committed during the bloody Sept. 30, 1991, coup against Aristide and the repressive dictatorship that followed it.

It was not immediately clear whether Lt. Col. Michel-Joseph Francois, the powerful Port-au-Prince police chief, who did not take part in Sunday’s negotiations, will also be required to resign. But sources in Port-au-Prince said Francois passed the word to Cedras and Biamby that he would abide by whatever agreement they reached.

The Administration earlier had listed the police chief as one of the military’s three most powerful officers, but U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Sunday night that his authority had eroded and he no longer posed “a significant threat.”

Aristide will not return to assume his office until the generals depart.

Michael Barnes, Aristide’s Washington attorney, said the pact is “a very imperfect agreement.” He criticized the Administration for abandoning its earlier demand that Cedras, Biamby and Francois leave at once or be driven from power by U.S. troops.

“The amnesty for these criminals is sad,” Barnes said. “It’s unfortunate that they’re being permitted to stay so long.”

Defense Secretary William J. Perry said the military government will retain control of the police until Cedras and Biamby actually resign. But 15,000 American troops--slightly fewer than the planned invasion force--will begin to arrive in Haiti today to restore order and clear the way for Aristide’s return. Clinton said Cedras and Biamby agreed to cooperate with the U.S. force.

Military-installed Haitian President Emile Jonassaint went on national television in Haiti just before midnight to announce the agreement.

Speaking for about seven minutes in both French and Creole, he said, “Many people are not going to like this,” but he urged all Haitians “to return to calmness.”

He said that by rejecting violence, Haiti will show the “international community the will, dignity and tenacity . . . that will ensure the security of our country.”

“They (the Americans) were ready to come and wipe us out.”

Jonassaint explained that there was no choice but to sign the agreement. “There were more than 61 planes ready to bomb us,” he said.

“After thinking it over, and with the help of the high command of the armed forces, we thought we could not permit the annihilation of Haiti to happen.”

Jonassaint, who was appointed president unconstitutionally by the military four months ago, ended his speech by saying to Haitians, “You can go to sleep knowing that no planes are going to bombard us.”

Although Clinton described the agreement as a victory, the terms fell substantially short of the objectives he outlined in a dramatic speech last week. By permitting the top generals to remain at their posts for up to a month and by failing to immediately disband the army and police, the pact could cause future problems.

In addition, the agreement calls for the U.N. economic embargo of Haiti to end “without delay,” apparently before Cedras and Biamby resign.

Carter acquiesced to the demand of the generals to go out with dignity and honor. The pact states, “In order to personally contribute to the success of this agreement, certain military officers of the Haitian armed forces are willing to consent to an early and honorable retirement . . . when a general amnesty will be voted into law by the Haitian Parliament, or Oct. 15, 1994, whichever is earlier.” Cedras and Biamby are not listed by name.

Cedras had agreed to resign his post and leave Haiti by last Oct. 15 under the terms of an agreement negotiated on Governors Island in New York Harbor, but he reneged. To suggestions that Cedras might go back on his word again, Clinton said that the presence of the U.S. troops “will guarantee that the dictators will carry out the terms of the agreement,” a tacit acknowledgment that U.S. forces may yet have to use force to depose the military leaders.

Clinton said Cedras and Biamby finally agreed to resign when they learned that the paratroopers were on the way. Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pentagon planning had called for a Sunday night invasion “for a number of days now.” He said the attack would not have been postponed if the dictators had not agreed to resign.

Throughout Carter’s visit, which began at midday Saturday, the former President had warned that “an invasion was within hours, even minutes” if the leaders did not resign and accept the return of Aristide, according to the sources close to the talks in the white, two-story army headquarters.

The message was delivered in three meetings between Carter and the two high-ranking officials. Also attending were Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The capital was largely calm and appeared normal Sunday afternoon. Even a crowd summoned by the Haitian government to gather outside the army headquarters where Carter held his third meeting with Cedras was calm.

But people were leaving the city in large numbers and families could be seen carrying bundles of clothes, food and other essentials through the streets as they sought havens away from expected invasion sites.

Sunday morning, when an invasion seemed imminent, there had been an edge of tense disbelief, as reflected by a conversation with a group of wealthy but pro-democracy business and political leaders.

“I just can’t believe this is going to happen,” said a woman who runs a large business. “How can you (Americans) invade? No one in (the U.S.) Congress wants an invasion; I see the polls show the American people don’t want an invasion.”

“Yeah,” echoed her husband, “I know the Pentagon is even against it. I think it is just Clinton’s political pride at stake.”

Indeed, according to one source briefed by Carter, the issue of Clinton’s political future was brought up by Nunn during the talks.

He was described as explaining that Clinton’s political future was tied irreversibly to the return of Aristide and that there was no going back. Nunn indicated the positive side of this would be Clinton’s determination to ensure that Aristide, on his return, cautions against any retaliation or extreme political acts.

In his speech from the White House, Clinton emphasized that Aristide has promised to discourage his supporters from seeking revenge against the military or the country’s wealthy elite who supported the coup.

“It will be much easier to preserve human rights, and there is a real chance of a more orderly and less violent transfer of power,” Clinton said of the pact. “I ask that all Haitians remember what President Aristide said just a couple of days ago: no vengeance, no violence, no retribution, this is a time for peace. That is what the United States is going, along with our coalition partners, to work for.

“This is a good agreement for the United States and for Haiti,” Clinton said. “The military leaders will leave. The United States and coalition forces will arrive, beginning tomorrow, and they’ll do so in conditions that are less dangerous, although still not without risk.”

Christopher said the Administration accepted the pact because it contained a firm date for the generals to resign even though that date was a bit further away than Washington originally had demanded.

Although Cedras and Biamby would not be required to leave Haiti, Christopher said it was “inconceivable” that they would stay once they surrender power to Aristide.

Christopher denied rumors that Carter had remained in Port-au-Prince longer than the Administration wanted him to. Christopher said there was no disagreement about the length of the talks, although the Pentagon had warned the former President to wrap up his negotiations for his own safety so that the invasion troops could arrive.

In Port-au-Prince, sources said Biamby resisted the agreement far longer than Cedras.

“Biamby is nearly crazed with saving his honor,” one source said. “He simply will not accept Aristide’s return and would rather die than agree.”

Carter’s reaction, according to a source who was briefed by the former President, was to tell Cedras that an invasion was imminent.

“Carter said the Haitian armed forces would be destroyed and that they and their families would suffer,” the source said. “He told Cedras his own life was at stake.

“Carter told us he told Cedras that he had great respect for him and that he hoped he (Cedras) and his family would not have to go through this ordeal,” the source said.

Carter’s dire assessment was seconded by Powell, who told the Haitians that the Americans gathering offshore “are the best of American troops and would be destructive. You have no idea of the firepower we have.”

And Nunn, a conservative Democrat who has expressed reservations about Aristide, weighed in to remove any doubts that congressional opposition could stop the invasion.

“Nunn told them” that before the House and Senate debate that had been expected this week, “this (the invasion) is going to be over. There is no question of Congress’ voting to delay (the military operation) or of tying the hands of the President,” the source said.

The source said Carter related that Cedras became angry only when it appeared that Carter was focusing on him and not the rest of the high command.

The former President said he talked to Cedras by telephone for several hours Thursday and Friday before leaving for Haiti on Saturday morning.

“He evidently thought there was a chance on the basis of those calls, or he wouldn’t have come,” one diplomat said.

Carter first met Cedras when the former President served as an outside monitor of the December, 1990, election won by Aristide. Cedras, then a colonel, organized security for the balloting, the only internationally certified free and fair election in Haitian history.

Kempster reported from Washington and Freed from Port-au-Prince. Times staff writers Elizabeth Shogren and Doyle McManus in Washington contributed to this story.

Caribbean Crisis

* ON CAPITOL HILL--Congressional leaders were relieved by Sunday’s eleventh-hour agreement, but some criticized the Administration for letting the crisis escalate. A8

* PAYING FOR PEACE--The United States and its allies have already promised to shoulder much of the burden of rebuilding Haiti’s ravaged economy, a task that will cost an estimated $550 million in the first year alone. A4

* TEXT OF CLINTON SPEECH: A7

* OTHER STORIES, PHOTOS: A4-10