Aristide flies to South Africa

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived in South Africa where he will be allowed to live in exile until he can safely return to Haiti.

Before leaving Jamaica for asylum in South Africa, Aristide insisted he was still the elected president of Haiti and promised to return some time in the future.

He fled his country on February 29 as rebels approached the capital, Port-au-Prince. He later claimed he was overthrown by the United States, a charge Washington denies.

Aristide, in a welcome usually reserved for visiting heads of state, was greeted at Johannesburg airport by South African President Thabo Mbeki, a delegation of cabinet ministers and an African Union official.

The ousted leader and his wife, Mildred, were embraced by Mbeki as they stepped off the South African presidential jetliner that flew them, their two young daughters and their bodyguards from Jamaica.

In a brief comment to reporters at the airport, Aristide thanked South Africa and the African Union and said he was glad to be in Africa “our mother continent, our temporary home until we are back in Haiti”.

But he added that the situation in Haiti must be normalised and peace must be restored before he would attempt to return.