AP Aristide Article

[Tell all your new New Zealand friends, that, "Yes, we do oust
democratically elected leaders for a hobby."  'tis quite sad, but tell
them we're looking for help in starting a superpower that represents the
opinion of people throughout the globe and not just the companies
and politicans who use the united states and her people for meddling and
bullying the rest of the world.
love /a]

March 1, 2004

Aristide Tells AP the U.S. Forced Him Out
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:40 p.m. ET

ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide said in a telephone interview
Monday that he was ``forced to leave'' Haiti by U.S. military forces who
said they would ``start shooting and killing'' if he refused.

Aristide was put in contact with The Associated Press by the Rev. Jesse
Jackson following a news conference, where the civil rights leader called on
Congress to investigate Aristide's ouster.

When asked if he left Haiti on his own, Aristide quickly answered: ``No. I
was forced to leave.

``They were telling me that if I don't leave they would start shooting, and
be killing in a matter of time,'' Aristide said during the brief interview
via speaker phone. He spoke with a thick Haitian accent, his voice obscured
at times by a bad connection.

When asked who the agents were, he responded: ``White American, white
military.

``They came at night. ... There were too many. I couldn't count them,'' he
added.

Aristide told reporters that he signed documents relinquishing power out of
fear that violence would erupt in Haiti if he didn't comply with the demands
of ``American security agents.''

Aristide said he was in his palace in Port-au-Prince when the military force
arrived. He said he thought he was being taken to the Caribbean island of
Antigua, but instead he has been exiled to the Central African Republic.

Aristide described the agents as ``good, warm, nice,'' but added that he had
no rights during his 20-hour flight to Africa.

Aristide's wife, Mildred, initiated Monday's telephone call, said Shelley
Davis, a special assistant to Jackson. She said the reverend and the
president's family have been close for about a decade.

Jackson said Congress should investigate whether the United States,
specifically the CIA, had a role in the rebellion that led to Aristide's
exile.

Jackson encouraged reporters to question where the rebels in Haiti got their
guns and uniforms.

``Why would we immediately support an armed overthrow and not support a
constitutionally elected government?'' Jackson said.

Aristide, who fled Haiti under pressure from the rebels, his political
opponents, the United States and France, arrived Monday in the Central
African Republic, according to the country's state radio. He has claimed
that he was abducted from Haiti by U.S. troops who accompanied him to
Africa.

The White House, Pentagon and State Department have denied allegations that
Aristide was kidnapped by U.S. forces eager for him to resign.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press

-- 
"Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North
Korea and  Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in  Iraq. The
country swims on a sea of oil."
Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense (Pentagon 2nd in command)
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