Aristide leaves for Jamaica : Clearance came after tense stand-off in Bangui

Last night Jamaica's foreign minister, K D Knight, expressed surprise that there would have been any difficulty in Aristide leaving the country where he has lived since his overthrow at the end of February.

"I find that quite strange," Knight told the Observer. "I didn't apprehend there would be any difficulty. I would believe that any delay would be over flight plans."

But Bozize gave the green light for the departure of the Aristides just after 7:00 pm Jamaica time - almost to the minute of the time his government had promised it would arrive at a decision.

Shortly afterwards the Aristides and their entourage, including Prime Minister P J Patterson's personal emissary, South Central St Catherine MP, Sharon Hay-Webster, were whisked from the presidential palace in Bangui to the airport where they boarded a chartered Gulfstream jet for the 17-hour flight to Jamaica.

"Because they [the government of the Central African Republic] were so gracious in welcoming us here, it is natural that while we are leaving the first thing we say is thank you," Aristide told Amy Goodman, the host of the National Public Radio Programme, Democracy Now, shortly after news that he would leave Bangui as scheduled.
Earlier, in stories posted on the Democracy Now website, Goodman had indicated uncertainty over whether the Aristides would have been allowed to leave last night and spoke of negotiations between Bozize, Aristide, Hay-Webster and US Congresswoman, Maxine Waters, over the issue.

When he emerged from that meeting Aristide, according to Goodman's report, believed that Bozize needed to consult with the United States, France and Gabon, the countries which were in negotiations for his exile in the Central African Republic after his ostensible resignation on February 29.
Jamaican officials could not comment on whether Bozize might have sought clearance for Aristide to go.
In the end, however, it appeared that there was great civility over the departure.

Goodman reported that Bozize, who came to power in a military coup a year ago, presented the Aristides with two gifts - a picture made of thousands of butterfly wings, and a piece of art made from rare wood from the Central African Republic.
Aristide has accused the US government of all but kidnapping him and bundling him out of Haiti at the height of an armed rebellion led by former coup plotters and death squad leaders and civil unrest orchestrated by the official Opposition.

The United States denied the allegation, but the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom), chaired by Patterson, called for an international investigation into Aristide's claim. The call was backed by the 53-member African Union.

The Community was angry that a Western troika of the US, France and Canada with which it had worked on a power-sharing plan for Haiti, that would have forced Aristide to cohabit with the Opposition was jettisoned by the group.
They then put pressure on Aristide to step down, which he said he would not do.

Although Caricom branded the manner of Aristide's removal as a "dangerous precedent", the Community has since recognised the reality on the ground in Haiti, accepting the transition with formal recognition of the new administration.
Jamaica controversially announced on Thursday that it would allow Aristide to come to the island for up to 10 weeks ahead of his permanent asylum outside the Caribbean so that he and his wife can reunite with their two young children.

The newly-installed interim prime minister in Haiti, Gerard Latortue, described Jamaica's decision as a "unfriendly ...act" and delayed a meeting with Patterson to lobby for recognition by Caricom, which Haiti formally joined in 1998. Jamaica is 100 miles from Haiti at the closest point.
Yesterday Condoleezza Rice, US President George W Bush's national security advisor, described Aristide's trip to Jamaica as "a bad idea", and again rejected that Aristide was kidnapped. The US helped him to leave Haiti she told NBC television.

"He was not duped by the United States," Rice said. ".Now that he has stepped down, Haiti is moving forward."
Jamaica has told Aristide that he will not be allowed to use the island as a "launching pad" to attempt to regain power in Haiti and has warned him against giving political speeches.
"It has been made very clear to former President Aristide that Jamaica is not to be used as a launching pad to further any desire to be reinstated in Haiti and there is a clear understanding that has been arrived at that this position will be honoured," Knight said on Friday.

As they prepared to leave Bangui last night Goodman, the Democracy Now reporter, asked Aristide for his thoughts about coming to Jamaica.
He said: "In the Caribbean family, we find the African Diaspora too. Now that we are in Africa, moving towards Jamaica, we are moving from one big family to the same family somehow. That's why we will continue to do our best to promote peace, friendship for all of us as members."

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040314T230000-0500_57123_OBS_ARISTIDE_LEAVES_FOR_JAMAICA__.asp