"Aristide has left," said a senior Haitian security official and a high-ranking Canadian official in Port-au-Prince told the news agency that "important sources have told us he is gone."

The French Foreign Ministry also confirmed his departure.

"The administration believes Aristide made the right decision for the Haitian people by resigning," a senior US official said in Washington.

Aristide, whose role in a popular uprising that ended decades of dictatorship in the 1980s made him a hero of Haitian democracy, left the nation of 8 million people 24 days after the start of a bloody uprising by armed rebels determined to unseat him.

His departure came under pressure from the United States, France and other nations for him to resign and end the revolt, which has killed nearly 70 people.

A government official in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, said Aristide had flown there. It was not yet known where he was going next.

The Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, was convulsed by looting and violence this week as the armed rebels, led by a former police chief and a former death squad leader, advanced on the city.

Aristide's departure prompted celebrations among his political foes, who have accused the president of human rights violations and corruption.

The armed revolt this month capped months of political tensions

"It's great for the country. That's what we've been waiting for," said Charles Baker, a leader of a coalition of opposition civic and political groups. "Now we're partying. Then we'll get back to work."

Aristide, a former parish priest, first took office in 1991 but was ousted in a coup months later. He was restored to power by a U.S. invasion in 1994, and then re-elected in 2000 for a second term that he had, until now, said he would serve out until 2006.