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| Aristide exile ’perfect Franco-US co-ordination’ |
| 2004-03-01 |
| Ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide’s flight into exile was the result of intense consultation and "perfect co-ordination" between Paris and Washington, France’s foreign minister said Monday. The dialogue with the United States since the start of the crisis in Haiti was conducted in an excellent atmosphere and the departure of president Aristide was the result of perfect co-ordination" between the two governments, Dominique de Villepin told reporters here. Guess he didn’t get the word from Sen. John Kerry. He said Bush waited too long, as usual, before intervening. Kerry said he would have gone in without international support, that’s very unilateral of him, don’t you think? De Villepin said he had been in touch with US Secretary of State Colin Powell several times by telephone since Sunday before the choice of the Central African Republic (CAR) as Aristide’s destination was decided. Amid a mounting insurrection and after intense pressure from the international community, Aristide and his wife fled Haiti on Sunday and arrived in the CAR on Monday. Aristide sez he was kidnapped. An official of the state protocol department in the capital Bangui said Aristide and his wife would stay for a few days before heading to South Africa, but the foreign ministry in Pretoria said it was not aware of any such plan. "Who? He said what?" "We had to find a quick way out of this crisis to avoid getting bogged down and avoid the violence escalating, and to bring about the deployment of a multi-national force," de Villepin said. US Marines arrived in Haiti early Monday to launch an international force to restore order, while French troops and gendarmes were expected later in the day. First group of French troops have landed. The final size of the force has not been decided. De Villepin underlined the importance of sending aid urgently to ease the plight of the increasingly desperate Haitian population. He said that following the appointment of a caretaker president, "it is now advisable to install a prime minister, and with the ceasefire, to support the move towards national reconciliation." "All the political forces which renounce violence can take part in this move," said de Villepin, on the first day of a visit to Japan. "Just like our successful intervention in, er......" |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 how long before aristede appears in california supporting michael jackson who was also targeted for removal as the king of pop by a u.s. government entity |
| Posted by: SON OF TOLUI 2004-3-1 11:58:56 PM |
| #8 An official of the state protocol department in the capital Bangui said Aristide and his wife would stay for a few days before heading to South Africa, but the foreign ministry in Pretoria said it was not aware of any such plan. Funny, South Africa has been very supportive of Aristide. Back on Feb. 2nd they sent a plane load of weapons and body armor for use by Jean's forces. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-3-1 8:04:00 PM |
| #7 Part of the Food for Refugees program? |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-3-1 5:04:07 PM |
| #6 what's that sound you hear??? It's the sound of the French diplomats opening new bank accounts in expectation of UN aid flowing to Haiti. |
| Posted by: B 2004-3-1 2:31:47 PM |
| #5 sounds like Senator "I was in Viet Nam" is advocating unilateral invasion of sovereign countries, even when they pose no "imminent threat" to us, and obviously own no WMD's...hmmmmm |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-3-1 1:58:24 PM |
| #4 Somebody should explain to Kerry that if we intervened before Aristide left than we would be required to maintain the status quo. Bolstering the current regime has been tried unsucessfully. Colin Powell's statement should be rephrased as, "there is no enthusiasm among the international community to keep Aristide in power, but we have several ships full of marines that are ready to help out once he is gone." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-3-1 1:50:16 PM |
| #3 Here's Kerry's quote from the New York Daily News: Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush yesterday of deliberately helping insurgents in the bloody Haitian uprising and said he would use American military forces to stop the violence if he were in office. Kerry (D-Mass.) said he would have sent troops to Haiti even without international support to quell the revolt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Without international support? Gee, that's very unilateral of you, Senator. "President Kerry would never have allowed that to get where it is," Kerry said, though he added he's not "a big Aristide fan." But he insisted the White House "has empowered the insurgents, and they've done it quite purposely out of their dislike ... for Aristide." Yeah, we overthrow everyone we dislike, why just look at when we invaded Cuba........ A Kerry administration would have given the rebels a 48-hour ultimatum to come up with a peaceful agreement - "otherwise, we're coming in," he said. Gee, now where have I heard that before? "I would intervene with the international community, and absent an international force, I'd do it unilaterally," he said, adding the most important thing was to protect democracy. Right. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-3-1 1:43:53 PM |
| #2 quite an achievement for France to help in deciding where Aristide was going to flee to France is the world's expert on fleeing dictators. Or is that world expert on fleeing? |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-3-1 1:00:15 PM |
| #1 Wow, it must've been quite an achievement for France to help in deciding where Aristide was going to flee to. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-1 12:49:45 PM |