South Africa grants Aristide asylum

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 26, 2004

South Africa grants Aristide asylum

South Africa has granted permanent asylum to Haitian former president Jean Bertrand Aristide from April, sources said Thursday.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

South Africa has granted permanent asylum to Haitian former president Jean Bertrand Aristide from April, sources said Thursday.

Aristide may leave for South Africa after the April 14 general elections in South Africa, said sources declined to be named.

However, Ronnine Mamoepa, spokesman for the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua through telephone Thursday night that South Africa has yet to receive any official request from the ousted president for asylum in the country.

But officials said on condition of anonymity that South African President Thabo Mbeki's government demanded the delay in Aristide's arrival because it could be "politically unsettling" before the election.

Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said there would be no immediate comment from the President's office. Opposition leaders have said the government should not support Aristide who is accused of corruption and violence against his opponents.

Mbeki was among few international leaders to attend Haiti's bicentennial independence celebrations earlier this year.

In the early days of Aristide's exile, South Africa had said it would accept him if he asked for asylum.

The African Union(AU) criticized "the unconstitutional way" in which Aristide was forced from power earlier this month and urged its members to help him. The AU pledged "full support to the country that will agree to grant such asylum."

Nigeria said Monday it would grant Aristide "temporary asylum", and provide a "staging post" for his next movement. But the offer was reportedly turned down, because it was seen as a US manipulated move to shuttle Aristide far away from the Caribbean.

He arrived in Jamaica on March 15 from the Central African Republic, where he had been staying since he left Haiti on February 29, in the midst of an armed uprising.

According to reports, Aristide's close presence to his still unstable country had raised fears that his supporters might be tempted to mount a counterattack.

Source: Xinhua

Questions?Comments? Click here

Nigeria offers Haiti's ousted Aristide temporary asylum

Aristide leaves Central African Republic for Jamaica

Israel's killing of Yassin fuels conflict: Commentary ( 2 Messages)

How the US could improve its image abroad ( 14 Messages)

US urged not to fingerprint Chinese ( 10 Messages)

China hunts corrupt officials who abscond overseas ( 3 Messages)

Seven Chinese activists land on Diaoyu Islands ( 4 Messages)