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Aristide wishes to return to Haiti 5/3/2004

The ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said in Bangui on Thursday he wished to return to Haiti, a Haitian radio station in the capital city of Port-au-Prince reported.

Aristide said he was not officially resigned as the president and hoped he could return to Haiti, the report cited Aristide as saying on Thursday.

Aristide also blamed France for acting as an accomplice to the United States in "kidnapping" him out of Haiti.

In a telephone interview with the Cable News Network on Monday from the Central African Republic, Aristide denied he stepped downout of his own will, and accused the United States of forcing him out of office in a "coup d'etat."

He also claimed someone made changes to his resignation letter,thus turning it into a fake document.

The White House and Pentagon dismissed allegations that Aristide was kidnapped by US forces eager for him to resign and flee into exile. The US State Department spokesman Richard Bouchersaid on Thursday "we did not advocate his stepping down," and that"Aristide departed voluntarily to spare his country further violence."

The Haitian crisis was triggered on Feb. 5 when anti-governmentmilitants took control of the country's fourth-largest city of Gonaives to oust President Aristide, who resigned and fled Haiti on Feb. 29.




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