The Central African Republic authorities will meet in the coming days with ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to "clear up" whether he wants to remain in Bangui or head into exile elsewhere, government spokesperson Parfait M'bay said yesterday.

"We hope that former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide will be able to meet the country's authorities so that a certain number of points can be cleared up, because we still don't know if he wants to stay in Bangui for a while or continue on his way to South Africa," said M'bay in a radio interview.

Aristide arrived here on Monday, after fleeing his Caribbean island state following weeks of unrest that has claimed scores of lives.

Central African President Francois Bozize said in a statement Monday that the impoverished country - struggling both financially and for international recognition after a coup nearly a year ago toppled elected president Ange-Felix Patasse - had "agreed to give refuge to the former president of the world's first black republic, Haiti," at the request of Gabonese President Omar Bongo.

But a day after he arrived in Bangui, Aristide's "irresponsible" behaviour was proving a headache for his Central African Republic hosts.

"He's already started to embarrass us," said M'bay.

"He's scarcely been here 24 hours, and he's causing problems for Central African diplomacy," he said, referring to an interview given by Aristide to CNN, in which the former priest said he was ousted in a coup orchestrated by Washington. – Sapa-AFP.