PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – Former Haitian dictator Jean Claude Duvalier has told nationals that he decided to end his 25 year exile in France and return home to help in the reconstruction of the country following the January 12 earthquake last year that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.

In a prepared statement, Duvalier, who made a surprising return here on Sunday also expressed condolences to the families of those killed.

“When I made the decision to come back to Haiti to commemorate this sad anniversary with you, in our country, I was ready for any kind of persecution,” Duvalier said in a soft spoken voice.

“But I believe that the desire to participate by your side in this collaboration for the national reconstruction far outweighs any harrassment I could face.

“The desire to participate at your sides in this endeavor for the national construction far surpasses the personal hassles I could have confronted,” he said, in apparent reference to the allegations made against him by Haitian authorities including embezzlement, fraud, and crimes against humanity.

The 59-year-old former leader, who ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986 through terror and the regime he inherited from his father, has moved from the luxury hotel to the Montagne Noire neighborhood.

He expressed “my profound sadness toward my countrymen who consider themselves, rightly, to have been victims of my government” and  ended with a declaration  in which he envisioned a day when “all Haiti’s children, men and women, old and young, rich and poor, from the interior and from the diaspora, can march hand in hand without exclusion to participate together in Haiti’s rebirth.”

Human right groups say thousands of Haitians were imprisoned, tortured or killed, during his rule.

His brief statement was followed by explanations from a team of American lawyers, including former US congressman and presidential candidate Bob Barr, who said he was assisting Duvalier with his international public image.

One of the lawyers, Edwin Marger, denied that Duvalier harboured any political ambitions. But he said Duvalier does want access to funds frozen in a bank account in Switzerland to contribute to the reconstruction.

But there is also speculation that Duvalier is gravely ill or that his return is designed to influence the second round of voting for a new president in February.

Amnesty International has reiterated that Duvalier should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of Haitian law.

“There is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. Jean-Claude Duvalier therefore must be brought to justice for these acts,” said researcher Gerardo Ducos.

“He must remain in the country as long as the investigation is taking place.”