20345: Esser: Delegation departs from Miami to retrieve Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Delegation departs from Miami to retrieve Aristide

Mar 13, 2004

By JOHN PAIN
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI, A delegation of American and Jamaican officials departed
Saturday to
bring ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his exile
in Africa to be reunited with his family in Jamaica.

The five-member delegation boarded a 13-seat charter Gulfstream jet
in Miami and expected to arrive in Central African Republic on Sunday
afternoon after several refueling stops.

Delegation members, including U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said
bringing Aristide to Jamaica was not an attempt for the former leader
to regain power in Haiti. She called their mission "humanitarian."

Aristide left Haiti on Feb. 29 as Haitian rebels were closing in on
the capital, Port-au-Prince. He arrived March 1 in Bangui where he
has been staying in a presidential palace apartment. Aristide's
American-born wife has been in exile with him, but their two young
daughters were staying in New York during the upheaval.

The plane was expected to arrive in Jamaica on Monday morning.

Sharon Hay-Webster, a representative of the Caribbean Community, said
Aristide would spend up to 10 weeks in Jamaica. She said Aristide
won't be performing any political activities there.

"Jamaica is acting as host in response to Mr. Aristide's request,"
Hay-Webster said before boarding the plane. She said Jamaica would
provide a "secure and safe" location for Aristide to reunite with his
family.

Haiti's new prime minister, Gerard Latortue, has warned that
Aristide's return to the region would only increase tension in Haiti.

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, chairman of the 15-nation
Caribbean Community, has invited Latortue to visit Jamaica this
weekend for talks on Haiti. But Robert Ulysse, an aid to Latortue,
said the prime minister would stay in Haiti and focus on setting up
his Cabinet.

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley said Saturday that "Jamaican
authorities are certainly taking on a risk and a responsibility" by
accepting Aristide.

Aristide has claimed he is still the legitimate leader of Haiti, and
that the U.S. government forced him out. U.S. officials say Aristide
asked for help and that they saved his life by arranging his
departure aboard a U.S.-chartered aircraft during a bloody rebellion.

When asked whether Aristide still claims he was kidnapped by the
United States, attorney Ira Kurzban said, "Absolutely."

Kurzban, who was for years the U.S. legal representative for the
ousted president's government, was part of the group retrieving
Aristide.
.