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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| France 'Protecting' Aristide in C. African Republic |
| 2004-03-02 |
| Snicker France said Tuesday it was "protecting" former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in his temporary exile in the Central African Republic but insisted it did not control his movements there. Aristide has alleged he was forced to quit the former French colony against his will by the United States, with whom France has worked closely on the Haiti crisis. The allegation has been dismissed by Bush administration officials as nonsense. "At present, I would say he is being protected rather than imprisoned," French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told Europe 1 radio. "France is not controlling his comings and goings," she said, noting that a contingent of French soldiers had been based in the impoverished country since a military coup there last year. "This is simply a question of ensuring that his temporary stay in the Central African Republic takes place under normal conditions," she said. She did not say where Aristide was expected to go next, or when. "We don't know, and we don't care. Just go." Asked about allegations he was kidnapped, Aristide said in a text of an interview released by CNN on Monday: "As I said, I called this coup d'etat in a modern way, to have modern kidnapping." It must be modern, your old fashioned kidnappers rarely let the kidnappee phone the press. The French army Web site said 190 French soldiers were based in the Central African Republic at the request of authorities there. Their mission includes protecting the French embassy and the airport in the capital Bangui. South Africa said Monday it would consider granting political asylum to Aristide but that it had not yet received a formal request. "Put it in writing and we'll think about it." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Could it be that the Banque Nationale de Paris holds a significant part of |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-3-2 4:10:50 PM |