ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC) — Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chairman Tillman Thomas says he does not anticipate the return of ousted president Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti would spur violence in the French speaking Caricom member state.

"Generally you have violence here and there in societies and Haiti is no exception, but I don't think Aristide's return would spur additional violence," Thomas told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

Thomas is also the prime minister of Grenada that is preparing to host the Caricom Inter-sessional Summit on February 25-26.

The Haitian authorities have already confirmed that a passport had been issued to the former Roman Catholic priest who was forced out of office in 2004 and has been living in exile in South Africa since.

No date has yet been given for his return to Port-au-Prince, but it comes close on the heels of the return of another ousted leader, jean Claude "Baby Doc' Duvalier, who has since been slapped with several charges relating to his 15-year rule before he was forced into exile in France in 1986.

Their return also coincides with the March 20 second run for the presidential and legislative council elections and there are fears in some circles that their presence could result in more violence in the hemisphere's poorest nation.

Prime Minister Thomas said that while Aristide's political party, Lavalas, had not been involved in the elections, it doesn't mean that it cannot be part of the democratic process unfolding in the Caricom country.

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