20427: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Aristide arrives in Jamaica; Haiti freezes relations with Jamaica

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Mon, Mar. 15, 2004



Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide smiles for photographers in
Bangui, Central African Republic Monday, on his way to board a chartered
flight for Jamaica. AP Photo


Aristide arrives in Jamaica; Haiti freezes relations with Jamaica to show
displeasure

By JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


KINGSTON, Jamaica - Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived
in Jamaica Monday, escorted by U.S. supporters, two weeks after he resigned
and flew to the Central African Republic.

Huntley Medley, an official in Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's
office, said Aristide's plane had landed at Kingston's Norman Manley
international airport.

Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue announced Monday he was freezing
relations with Jamaica to show his displeasure with Patterson's decision to
host Aristide.

Medley declined to provide any more details about the former Haitian
president's immediate plans. Patterson has said Aristide and his wife
planned to meet here with their two daughters, who had been living in New
York, and would stay for several weeks but was not looking for asylum here.

Aristide signed a resignation letter and fled Haiti on February 29, but he
has since alleged that he did not really resign and was ''kidnapped'' or
''tricked'' by U.S. officials who forced him to leave his country.

His departure eased four weeks of attacks by gunmen both opposed to and
supporting Aristide that left more than 130 dead and sparked an intervention
by some 2,600 peacekeeping troops from the United States, France, Chile and
Canada.

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