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Aristide insists he is still Haiti’s leader

9th March 2004

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Ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide yesterday insisted he was still the leader of the Caribbean island state, in his first public appearance since fleeing to the Central African Republic last week.

"I am and I remain the elected president, and it's in the name of those who elected me that I plead for the restoration of constitutional order," he told reporters and Central African officials gathered at the foreign ministry.

He called for "peaceful resistance to restore constitutional order" in Haiti, which he fled after weeks of violence that has claimed hundreds of lives.

He also claimed to have been the victim of a "political kidnapping," an accusation he has made on several occasions since arriving here on March 1, blaming the US of orchestrating a coup against him with France's complicity.

"There was a political kidnapping, I reiterate that. We were not allowed to look out of the windows of the airplane. We had a four-hour stopover during which we didn't even know where we were," he said.

Aristide, who has been given accommodation in a sumptuous villa near the official residence of Central African President Francois Bozize, also stressed that he did not feel he was being held prisoner in Bangui.

"I have never been a prisoner in Bangui, I am not now," he said.

Last week, Aristide raised hackles here, first by accusing Central African ally Washington of ousting him in a coup and then complaining that he was a prisoner in Bangui.

That brought a sharp response from the government, which told him to show some respect for his host nation's hospitality and its allies, without whose help Aristide "would be dead by now," in the words of Central African government spokesperson Parfait M'bay. – Sapa-AFP.
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