CAR sore about Aristide snub
2004-03-03 20:35
Bangui - Ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide owes his life to the impoverished Central African Republic, which has given him refuge, and its allies, said a government minister here, ordering the ex-president to show them more respect.
"Ex-president Aristide wants to stay in Central Africa for a while, and we are a country that has friends who helped him get out of Haiti to get here," said Parfait M'bay, a government spokesperson and communications minister.
"He must be grateful to these countries. Because, if he had not asked the United States and France to help him, president Aristide would be dead by now," said M'bay.
Aristide arrived in Bangui on Monday after fleeing his violence-wracked Caribbean state.
He and his wife Mildred were given a red-carpet welcome and housed in a sumptuous villa near the official residence of President Francois Bozize.
But, since his arrival, Aristide has raised hackles here, first by saying in an interview on CNN that he had been ousted by a coup orchestrated by Washington and then complaining that he was a prisoner in Bangui.
Aristide 'should be on his best behaviour'
On Wednesday, foreign minister Charles Herve Wenezoui led a delegation of Central African ministers to meet Aristide and urge him to respect his host country's "legendary hospitality" and stop making disparaging comments about its allies.
"I personally led the delegation of ministers that met him to ask him to respect his obligations," said Wenezoui.
"We received orders from the highest state authorities to pass a message to president Aristide, that the Central African Republic had taken him in because of its legendary hospitality and that he must respect the rules of that hospitality," said Wenezoui.
"We believe that president Aristide, who gave us a good impression when he arrived, should be on his best behaviour."
Aristide would be allowed to continue to use the telephone the authorities here had given him when he arrived.
"But, not to undermine the interests of the Haitian people, nor to call into question the goodwill of the Central African Republic's friends, who want to help restore peace in Haiti," said Wenezoui.
When Aristide arrived here, the authorities said he was just passing through en route to exile elsewhere, probably South Africa, where he enjoys good relations with President Thabo Mbeki - the only world leader to attend the 200th anniversary of Haiti's independence in January.
But a spokesperson for Mbeki has said South Africa would not take a snap decision on granting asylum to Aristide, preferring instead to thrash out issues ranging from funding to security and immunity for the exiled former leader.
And, on Wednesday, South Africa insisted it had not yet received a formal request for asylum from Aristide, effectively throwing the ball of where Aristide will end up back into Bangui's court.