I was kidnapped - Aristide

I was kidnapped - Aristide
Posted Tue, 02 Mar 2004

Former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide charged on Monday that he had been pressured by the United States to flee into exile and his removal from power amounted to a "modern kidnapping" and a "coup d'etat".

But the US diplomat that escorted him early on Sunday to the airport denied any coercion, and Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed coup charges as "absurd".

Aristide, interviewed by CNN television by telephone from the Central African Republic, where he flew into exile on Sunday, said he resigned under pressure and that his decision to step down was made only because he was told it was the only way to avoid bloodshed.

"We were going to have bloodshed"

The ex-Haitian leader did not, however, repeat claims made by some of his supporters that he had been forced to leave the country at gunpoint — an allegation the White House dismissed earlier as "nonsense".

"I call it again and again a coup d'etat," Aristide said. "I called it a coup d'etat because it is a modern kidnapping."

Asked who had kidnapped him, Aristide replied: "Forces, Haitian forces. They were Americans and Haitians together acting to surround the airport, my house, the palace.

"I was told that I better leave," he said. "American agents talked to me. Haitian agents talked to me.

"And I finally realised it was true, we were going to have bloodshed," he said.

"And when I asked how many people may get killed, they said thousands may get killed," Aristide said. "So (they were) using that kind of force to lead a coup d'etat."

Aristide fled Haiti aboard a US plane on Sunday after a three-week armed rebellion against his rule which left more than 100 people dead and much of the country in the hands of insurgents.

"Well that’s life," said departing Aristide

The senior US diplomat who escorted Aristide to the Port-au-Prince airport told AFP that the Haitian leader was resigned as he headed voluntarily into exile.

Luis G. Moreno, the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Haiti, said six US security guards had been present at the departure and that nothing had been done to coerce the president into leaving.

"At no time did anyone threaten him or coerce him (Aristide), it was all very courteous and polite," Moreno said.

Moreno, the last US diplomat to see Aristide in Haiti, said that Aristide's final words before departing were: "Well, that's life".

Aristide told CNN that after boarding the US plane for the flight into exile he was not told where he was being taken.

"We spent 20 hours in that plane without knowing where we were going, without having the right to contact our people," he said. "You can't imagine this kind of unbearable situation."

Powell insists Aristide not kidnapped

Powell, speaking at a joint US-European Union press conference in Washington, insisted that Aristide "was not kidnapped, we did not force him onto the airplane, he went onto the airplane willingly and that's the truth".

Asked about his resignation letter, Aristide said he would have to verify the copy obtained by CNN because "these people lied".

"I need to see the paper before saying this is exactly what I wrote," he said.

"In what I wrote, I explained that if I am forced to leave to avoid bloodshed, of course, I will leave to avoid bloodshed," he said.

Asked whether his departure was in the best interests of Haiti, Aristide said: "Of course not, because no one should force an elected president to move to avoid bloodshed."

AFP
http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/306691.htm