19896: radtimes: US faces mounting international fury over Aristide's 'forced' exit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

US faces mounting international fury over Aristide's 'forced' exit

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=498045

By Andrew Gumbel
05 March 2004


South Africa added its voice last night to a growing international chorus
questioning the circumstances surrounding Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure
from Haiti and demanded an investigation into allegations that the US
forcibly removed a democratically elected president from office.

In a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration, South Africa's Foreign
Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said that if Mr Aristide had been
prised from power against his will, it would have "serious consequences and
ramifications for the respect of the rule of law and democracy the world
over".

The issue, fuelled by direct accusations by Mr Aristide that he was, in
effect, kidnapped and hustled into exile in the Central African Republic
under conditions that he likened to imprisonment, has once again thrust a
spotlight on the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy and risks
becoming a liability for President Bush as he begins his re-election
campaign.

The Bush administration has denied kidnapping or forcing Mr Aristide from
office at gunpoint, claiming he sought safe passage out of the country under
US escort. But the appearance of at least some degree of coercion, has
prompted angry responses from President Bush's domestic critics and some
international bodies.

The 15-nation Caribbean Community, Caricom, has refused to contribute troops
to the peace-keeping force taking up positions in Haiti. It called for an
investigation into Mr Aristide's removal from power to be conducted by the
United Nations or other similar international body.

Ms Zuma stood full-square behind the Caricom position. In a statement issued
from Pretoria, she said: "South Africa stands ready to support all efforts
by Caricom to help bring stability and security to Haiti."

South Africa was one of Mr Aristide's closest allies while he was in power,
drawing criticism because of the Haitian government's deteriorating record
on human rights, economic development and democracy.

The South African President, Thabo Mbeki, was one of the few world leaders
to attend celebrations in Haiti on New Year's Day, to mark the 200th
anniversary of its independence. And according to South African news
reports, the country recently sent weapons, ammunition and bulletproof vests
to help Mr Aristide defend himself against an armed rebellion led by former
army commanders and paramilitary death squad leaders from the 1980s and
early 1990s. But the shipment did not arrive before Mr Aristide's departure
last weekend and its exact whereabouts are unknown.

South Africa has said it would offer Mr Aristide asylum if it was asked. The
Central African Republic made a similar offer yesterday, but said it was in
no position to pay for his upkeep in the long term.

Meanwhile, the Haitian consul general in New York has taken the position
that Mr Aristide is still the country's legitimate president.

.