20260: Esser: Jamaica Says Haiti's Aristide to Visit Next Week (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Jamaica Says Haiti's Aristide to Visit Next Week
Mar 11, 2004

By Horace Helps

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, who fled into exile in Africa last month, will travel to
Haiti's Caribbean neighbor Jamaica early next week for a visit that
could last up to 10 weeks, the Jamaican prime minister said on
Thursday.

Aristide was not seeking asylum in Jamaica and would not be expected
to stay on the island for more than eight to 10 weeks, Prime Minister
P.J. Patterson said in a statement.

Aristide, a former parish priest who championed democracy in the late
1980s but who had increasingly been accused of trampling on
democratic rights, fled Haiti on Feb. 29, driven out by armed rebels
who were closing in on the Haitian capital and by U.S. pressure to
quit.

"Mr. Aristide has expressed a wish to return temporarily to the
Caribbean with his wife and to be reunited with their two young
children who are currently in the United States," said Patterson.

"At his request, arrangements are being made for his travel and
accommodation in Jamaica. He is expected to arrive here early next
week."

In exile in the Central African Republic, the former parish priest
has insisted he is still president and has said he was abducted by
U.S. forces which is denied by Washington.

NOT SEEKING ASYLUM

"I want to emphasize that Mr. Aristide is not seeking political
asylum in Jamaica," Patterson said. "He is engaged in finalizing
arrangements for permanent residence outside of the region."

Patterson said he had advised other leaders in the Caribbean
Community regional group, of which Jamaica and Haiti are members, of
Aristide's plans.

Jamaica, which lies 115 miles west of Haiti, has been active with
other Caribbean Community members in efforts to find a solution to
Haiti's political crisis, which had simmered for months before an
armed uprising against Aristide erupted on Feb. 5.

Last week the Caribbean Community called for an international inquiry
into the circumstances of Aristide's departure.

Meeting in emergency session in Jamaica, leaders of the 15-nation
group stopped short of condemning the United States but called for an
independent international body such as the United Nations to
investigate the contradictory reports about Aristide's exit.

Patterson stressed Caricom's desire to see a peaceful solution to
Haiti's turmoil and said the country's new interim prime minister,
Gerard Latortue, planned to visit Jamaica for talks ahead of a
meeting of Caricom heads of government at the end of the month.

Latortue, picked by a council of Haitian wise men earlier this week,
would presumably be in Jamaica at the same time as Aristide. But
Patterson did not indicate whether the two would meet.

© Copyright Reuters 2004.
.