20079: (Chamberlain) Aristide plans to sue US,France for kidnap, says lawyer (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     PARIS, March 8 (Reuters) - Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
plans to sue the United States and France for allegedly kidnapping him, one
of his lawyers said on Monday.
     Aristide, who arrived in the Central African Republic a week ago, has
repeatedly accused the United States of forcing him into exile after a
rebellion plunged Haiti into chaos.
     Lawyer Gilbert Collard said he and an American colleague would file
identical suits in France and the United States in the next few days once
they receive full authorisation from Aristide.
     "We will file suit against the French ambassador (in Port-au-Prince)
and against the (U.S.) military authorities that carried out the abduction
of the president," he told Reuters.
     "The suits will target the Bush administration and the French
government," he said. "If we get support from some African states, we will
also appeal to the relevant commission of the United Nations."
     Asked whether the lawsuits could succeed, Collard replied: "You never
know. In a world where you can abduct a democratically elected president,
you have to hope a democratic judge would find a way to do this."
     At his first news conference in Bangui on Monday, Aristide appealed
for peaceful resistance to what he called the occupation of Haiti and
insisted again he had been abducted.
     Washington and Paris have denied his allegation of kidnapping, saying
he agreed to leave Haiti and signed his own letter of resignation.