Exiled leaders want to call Haiti home again

Sending a fresh ripple through the choppy waters of Haitian politics, the country's deposed former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has declared that he is ready to end six years of exile and return home "today, tomorrow, at any time".

The announcement comes days after Haiti experienced another blast from the past with the sudden return of another ex-president: Aristide's lifelong bete noire, Jean-Claude Duvalier, the notorious former dictator known as "Baby Doc".

Aristide, a left-wing former Catholic priest who has been living in South Africa since being ousted in a 2004 coup, announced his ambition to return yesterday.

"Since my forced arrival in the Mother Continent 6 years ago, the people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return. As far as I am concerned, I am ready ... The purpose is very clear: to contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in the field of education."

To return, he must first secure a new Haitian passport. He must also get permission. "Let us hope that the Haitian and South African governments will enter into communication in order to make that happen in the next coming days," his message said.

Aristide, 57, was Haiti's first democratically elected leader and a key figure in overthrowing Duvalier, who had succeeded his own father in 1971 and ruled for 15 years with an iron fist and the help of a militia known as the Tonton Macoutes.

Aristide remains a polarising figure. He is romanticised by poorer Haitians, who believe that the coups which twice removed him from office, in 1991 and 2004, were orchestrated by the US Government in retaliation for efforts to enact economic reforms which might damage American business interests.

But rival political parties accuse Aristide of corruption and human rights abuses. Like most of the country's political leaders, he enjoyed a life of relative luxury when in office and his former villa, set in extended gardens near the airport, bears witness to the once-lavish nature of his lifestyle.

While Aristide's newly released message does not suggest he has any desire to return to the political arena, any return home would nonetheless add to the volatile mood on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital city flattened by a devastating earthquake a year ago.

Even before this week's events, Haiti was in a state of political turmoil amid allegations that supporters of the outgoing President Rene Preval are attempting to fraudulently lever his preferred successor Jude Celestin into office.

A run-off presidential election scheduled for January 14 that was abruptly called off after the first round of voting was judged to have been marred by endemic fraud.

With Duvalier now facing criminal complaints from former opponents who were jailed and tortured under his regime, the sudden return of Aristide would only add to the volatile mood.

- INDEPENDENT