Language

Aristide says he was 'kidnapped."

Submitted March 1, 2004 - 2:55 pm by Jules Siegel
Ousted Haitian President Aristide claims he was 'kidnapped'
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/8078434 .htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

By Jim Defede, Carol Rosenberg and Martin Merzer

[Excerpts]

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims he "did not resign" and was "kidnapped" by U.S. diplomatic and military officials, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters told The Herald on Monday.

Waters, a Democrat from California and a long-time supporter of Aristide, said she spoke with the now former president of Haiti on Monday morning.

"The world must know it was a coup," Waters quoted Aristide as saying. "That I was kidnapped. That I was forced out. That's what happened. I did not resign. I did not go willingly. I was forced to go."

Aristide made no such claim during a brief public statement when he arrived in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

There were indications, however, that Aristide was misled about his destination. He reportedly asked to be taken to South Africa, but ended up instead in the Central African Republic.

Waters said Aristide was being held -- under guard by unspecified troops -- in that nation's Palace of the Renaissance.

"He feels like he is in jail," Waters said.

"I talked to him and Mildred for about 15 minutes. He was anxious to get the word out that he did not leave voluntarily, that he was kidnapped, that he was forced out," Waters said.

She quoted Aristide as saying that Luis G. Moreno, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, came to his home with other diplomats and with U.S. Marines.

"They told him he had to leave and leave now or he and many Haitians would be killed," Waters said.

Moreno could not immediatedly be reached for comment.

Waters said Aristide sounded ``angry, stressed, determined, really determined that people know he was kidnapped, that he did not go willingly, that he was forced out.''

"He did not say he was abused," she said. 'I specifically asked him that, if he had been abused. He said, `No,' that they were very stern. He said he was ordered. He used that word, 'ordered.' And 'forced.' And 'kidnapped.' Those are the words that he used."

Herald staff writers Oscar Corral and Renato Perez contributed to this report.

© 2004 The Miami Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mercurynews.com

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