Aristide's 'Removal' from Haiti 'Unconstitutional': African Union

"The African Union expresses the view that the unconstitutional way by which President Aristide was removed set a dangerous precedent for a duly elected person and wishes that no action be taken to legitimize the rebel forces" in Haiti, said the statement released by the AU Commission, the body's main decision making body.

The head of the AU Commission, Mali's former president Alpha Oumar Konare, arrived Tuesday in the Central African Republic and held an hour of talks with the exiled former leader of Haiti, officials in Bangui said.

Neither man would comment after the meeting.

Konare "came here to meet president Aristide, gather information and then report back to the African Union so that it can take a formal position on the presence of Aristide in Africa and, more specifically, in the Central African Republic," Deputy Foreign Minister Guy Moskit told AFP.

The French ministry meanwhile announced Tuesday that Aristide signed a formal letter of resignation from office, refuting his claim that he remains the country's elected president.

"Constitutional legality was respected. Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned. His letter of resignation was formally put into effect," said foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.

Aristide has been in Bangui since March 1, after he fled his native Haiti following weeks of unrest.

Officials in CAR have said the Haitian former leader was only passing through on his way to exile elsewhere, probably South Africa, where Aristide has good relations with President Thabo Mbeki.

But with South Africa in the midst of campaigning for elections, the country was unlikely to offer asylum to Aristide until after the April 14 polls, an African diplomat here has said.

And Pretoria has said it will not take a snap decision on asylum for Aristide, for which, in any case, it has not received a formal request.

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