UN troops surround Aristide house

UN troops and police are awaiting orders from the government

UN troops and Haitian police have surrounded the abandoned home of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which has been occupied by former soldiers.

The ex-soldiers say they want to set up an army base in the house in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince to deal with ongoing violence there.

But the interim government has called the move "intolerable".

A UN spokesman at the scene told the BBC News website troops could storm the house if the government agreed to it.

The Haitian capital has seen a surge of violence since September - much of it blamed by the interim government on supporters of the ousted Mr Aristide, who is now in exile in South Africa.

Staying put

We are staying here. We will not back down Remissainthe Ravix Soldiers' leader

The soldiers' leader, Remissainthe Ravix, said his men intended to use the house as a base to train a new army to fight violence in the surrounding Tabarre district.

"We are staying here. We will not back down," Mr Ravix reportedly told Haitian radio.

But the transitional government said it would "take all necessary steps to put an end to this intolerable situation with the assistance" of the UN, in a statement quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

Hundreds of UN troops and Haitian police have surrounded the house and are "securing the area", said a spokesman for the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah), Damian Onses-Cardona.

An interim government delegation has been negotiating with the former soldiers, he said, and left the house at about 1530 local time (2030 GMT) on Thursday.

He said he did not yet know the outcome of the negotiations, but said the UN soldiers would be prepared to storm the house "if this is agreed by the government of Haiti".

Rebel control

Former soldiers were among the rebel groups which forced Mr Aristide out of office in February.

Many of them are now demanding the army be reconstituted and want 10 years' back pay.

The 6,000-strong UN force has been criticised for failing to disarm the rebels, who now control large swathes of the country.

Human rights groups have expressed concern that these irregular armed groups - along with police and pro-Aristide militias - are carrying out human rights abuses.