HAITI . . . A WRENCH IN THE PANAMA PLAN

The U.S. plan to divert up to 10,000 fleeing Haitians to Panama may be off. At a news conference, Panamanian President Guillermo Endara said he had wanted an agreement with the U.N., not with the U.S. alone. President-elect Ernesto Perez Balladares said the U.S. should care for the refugees at its own military bases. Panama's previous offer was widely criticized there. For the time being, the Pentagon will expand refugee camps at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Meanwhile, speculation mounted inPort-au-Prince and Washington about whether a reported U.S. military exercise meant invasion was imminent. Senior military sources told TIME defense correspondent Mark Thompson that Clinton has not yet made a decision, but that they're fully prepared, given the President's last-minute style.parpar