SOUTH AFRICA TO HELP ARISTIDE RETURN TO HAITI
(AFP)
CAPE TOWN — South Africa said on Thursday it is facilitating the return of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to his home country after years in exile.
"Whether president Aristide had requested the South African authority to leave? The answer is yes," International Relations Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane told a media briefing in Cape Town.
Aristide's impending departure comes after Haitian authorities issued a new passport to the ousted leader to Port-au-Prince.
"We are consulting with all interested parties to facilitate his return back home at the appropriate time," she said.
Aristide has lived in exile in South Africa since being ousted by a rebellion in 2004.
However the minister did not give any details about whether Aristide would be back in Haiti before the second round of presidential elections on March 20.
The United States has warned that Aristide return to Haiti, mired in political turmoil after a devastating earthquake and a deadly cholera epidemic, would be an "unfortunate distraction" and urged him to wait until after the second round of voting.
But the former priest, now 57, remains hugely popular among Haiti's poor. He has said he wants to go back to serve his people.
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