March 03, 2004
Caribbean Community backs Aristide
The 15-member Caribbean Community Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the resignation of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and said it will not participate in the interim peacekeeping force in Haiti.The CARICOM decision, prompted by Aristide's allegations that he was kidnapped by U.S. military personnel, appeared to be a blow to international efforts to forge a coalition government in Haiti and return the nation to normalcy.
CARICOM mediated the power-sharing plan that is at the root of current plans for a transitional Haitian government, and its withdrawal is likely to complicate the already tangled efforts to select a new prime minister and cabinet.
Leaders of the regional bloc, which includes Haiti, said they spoke with Aristide via telephone on Tuesday and remain disturbed by the way Aristide was forced to leave office.
They added that the current plans for a transition government no longer follow the CARICOM proposals because their plan called for Aristide and his opponents to share power in a new cabinet.
......CARICOM wants an independent inquiry into Aristide's charges that he wasa forced to resign and then ''kidnapped'' to the Central African Republic -- charges vehemently denied by U.S. officials and the San Francisco security firm that provides his bodyguard.
For more, Bilmon is keeping up with the situation.
Posted by Norwood at March 3, 2004 07:32 PM