Powell To Visit Haiti
Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Haiti on Monday to meet with officials of the country's interim government and to assess U.S. and international efforts to bring stability and provide humanitarian relief.
The trip comes five weeks after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country amid charges by Aristide and others that the Bush administration coerced him to leave.
The administration says Aristide departed voluntarily.
On Thursday, the justice minister said Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government plans to seek the extradition of Aristide on charges of corruption and rights abuses.
The move could further complicate Aristide's efforts to find a permanent home in exile.
Aristide, who fled Feb. 29 as rebels were reaching the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, is in temporary asylum in Jamaica. Officials there have said he will move to permanent asylum in South Africa after that country's general elections in two weeks.
In coming weeks Haitian authorities will appoint an independent body to investigate allegations of embezzlement and assassinations under Aristide, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.
"We are setting up a team to assemble all the violations ... for which he is responsible, and then we'll formally ask for his extradition," he said, refusing to give a time frame.
Aristide has charged he was kidnapped at gunpoint by U.S. agents and put on a plane to Central African Republic. Caribbean leaders returned him to temporary asylum in Jamaica.
The United States denies Aristide's claims, saying it acted at his request and probably saved his life.
Aristide's search for asylum has been complicated by countries unwillingness to deal with the diplomatic fallout from his charges against the United States.
Jamaica's government gave him shelter on condition he made no political statements, so it was impossible to reach him for comment.
The interim Haitian government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue estimates as much as $1 billion in state funds was pilfered under Aristide, and has ordered a formal audit by an international firm.
More than 300 people were killed in the three-week rebellion against Aristide, including scores of police officers accused of attacking Aristide opponents, along with street gangs allegedly armed by Aristide's party.
Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 200 years of independence in 1990.
He lost support as he turned to violence to subdue opposition, but his party remains the most popular political movement, especially among the majority impoverished people among the population of 8.3 million.