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US forced me to leave: Aristide
Bangui, Mar 02: Former Haiti president Jean-Bertrand Aristide said he was forced into exile by US forces who told him they would
Bangui, Mar 02: Former Haiti president Jean-Bertrand Aristide said he was forced into exile by US forces who told him they would "start shooting and killing" if he refused.
But US officials denied the charge, saying that Aristide left Haiti willingly with the United States aiding his safe departure. A haggard-looking Aristide spent his first day in hastily arranged exile on Monday after a violent rebellion to oust him from power as Haiti`s first elected president.
Aristide said he was "forced to leave." "They were telling me that if I don`t leave they would start shooting, and be killing in a matter of time," Aristide said. When asked who forced him to leave Haiti, he responded: "White American, white military.
"They came at night... There were too many. I couldn`t count them," he added.
Aristide, his wife and a few companions landed just after daylight on Monday aboard a contracted US-government plane in the Central African Republic, a nation as impoverished and nearly as coup-prone as the one he left.
"He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on to the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly, and that`s the truth," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
Aristide said he was in his palace in Haiti`s capital Port-au-Prince when the US military force arrived. He said he thought he was being taken to the Caribbean island of Antigua, but instead he has been exiled to the Central African Republic. Aristide described the American "agents" as "good, warm, nice," but added that he had no rights during his 20-hour flight to Africa.
US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who arranged the interview with Aristide, said Congress should investigate whether the United States, specifically the CIA, had a role in the rebellion that led to Aristide`s exile.
Jackson encouraged reporters to question where the rebels in Haiti got their guns and uniforms.
"Why would we immediately support an armed overthrow and not support a constitutionally elected government?" Jackson said. California Rep. Maxine Waters said Aristide called her and told her he was "kidnapped by American military and US diplomats" and was being held at the Palace of the Renaissance against his will in the Central African Republic.
African officials denied the charge.
"Aristide is not a prisoner in the Central African Republic," Foreign Minister Charles Wenezoui, who greeted the ousted leader upon his arrival at Bangui`s airport, said. "He is a free man, and the heavy security measures around the presidential palace are for his own security."
Authorities said the United States, France and the West African nation of Gabon negotiated Aristide`s asylum here. State radio said it would last only a few days, with South Africa possibly a permanent stop.
Bureau Report
But US officials denied the charge, saying that Aristide left Haiti willingly with the United States aiding his safe departure. A haggard-looking Aristide spent his first day in hastily arranged exile on Monday after a violent rebellion to oust him from power as Haiti`s first elected president.
Aristide said he was "forced to leave." "They were telling me that if I don`t leave they would start shooting, and be killing in a matter of time," Aristide said. When asked who forced him to leave Haiti, he responded: "White American, white military.
"They came at night... There were too many. I couldn`t count them," he added.
Aristide, his wife and a few companions landed just after daylight on Monday aboard a contracted US-government plane in the Central African Republic, a nation as impoverished and nearly as coup-prone as the one he left.
"He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on to the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly, and that`s the truth," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
Aristide said he was in his palace in Haiti`s capital Port-au-Prince when the US military force arrived. He said he thought he was being taken to the Caribbean island of Antigua, but instead he has been exiled to the Central African Republic. Aristide described the American "agents" as "good, warm, nice," but added that he had no rights during his 20-hour flight to Africa.
US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who arranged the interview with Aristide, said Congress should investigate whether the United States, specifically the CIA, had a role in the rebellion that led to Aristide`s exile.
Jackson encouraged reporters to question where the rebels in Haiti got their guns and uniforms.
"Why would we immediately support an armed overthrow and not support a constitutionally elected government?" Jackson said. California Rep. Maxine Waters said Aristide called her and told her he was "kidnapped by American military and US diplomats" and was being held at the Palace of the Renaissance against his will in the Central African Republic.
African officials denied the charge.
"Aristide is not a prisoner in the Central African Republic," Foreign Minister Charles Wenezoui, who greeted the ousted leader upon his arrival at Bangui`s airport, said. "He is a free man, and the heavy security measures around the presidential palace are for his own security."
Authorities said the United States, France and the West African nation of Gabon negotiated Aristide`s asylum here. State radio said it would last only a few days, with South Africa possibly a permanent stop.
Bureau Report