PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Flexing its military and diplomatic muscle, the United States sent combat-ready Marines into Haiti's capital and gave messages to rebel leader Guy Philippe that prompted him to say his men would lay down their arms.

Philippe's announcement signaled an end to a monthlong rebellion that claimed at least 130 lives.

Caribbean leaders, meanwhile, called for an independent international inquiry into the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - who claims he was abducted at gunpoint by U.S. Marines. The Bush administration denies it coerced Aristide to leave.

The Caribbean leaders signaled their anger by saying they would not provide troops for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti.

Aristide's apparent forced departure set a "very dangerous precedent" for all democratically elected leaders in the world, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson of Jamaica said, speaking for the 15-nation Caribbean Community.

In Port-au-Prince, U.S. Marines warily fanned out from the presidential palace in their first reconnaissance in force since the vanguard of a U.N.-approved peacekeeping force began arriving Sunday.

Amid the occasional pop of a distant gunshot, a convoy of 10 machine-gun-mounted Humvees and armored vehicles rumbled onto trash-strewn streets and patrolled an area stretching 30 blocks. As Marines pushed burned-out cars from roadways, Marine riflemen watched the street from behind the sights of their weapons.

Residents peered warily from balconies, and some showed open hostility.

It was a far cry from the tumultuous welcome Haitians accorded the 20,000 U.S. troops who invaded in 1994 to chase out brutal military dictators and restore the ousted Aristide.

In downtown Bel Air neighborhood, a stronghold of Aristide loyalists, one man waved angrily at the Marines' light-armored vehicles and tried to shove a wrecked car they had removed back into the street.

Col. Mark Gurganis, commander of the U.S. troops in Haiti, told reporters he and some other U.S. officials asked Philippe during a meeting Wednesday "to honor what he said he was going to do and lay down his arms."

The day after he had declared himself Haiti's "military chief," Philippe was also seen driving into the residence of U.S. Ambassador James Foley.

Then he called a news conference to announce, "Now that there are foreign troops promising to protect the Haitian people ... we will lay down our arms."