Overthrown Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife Mildred, arrive in Jamaica tomorrow from the Central African Republic where the couple has been in exile since Aristide's ostensible resignation a fortnight ago during what he insists was a coup d'etat orchestrated by the United States, Jamaican and foreign sources said last night.

At the same time, an expected weekend visit by interim Haitian prime minister, Gerard Latortue, appeared to be off last night and Government officials could not say whether it would be rescheduled.
"He did not come today (Saturday) and it does not seem that he will come tomorrow (Sunday)," said a Government official. "I can't say whether he will come or when."

Another Government official said Latortue has "plenty of sorting out to do" in Haiti before he can "sensibly engage Prime Minister (P J) Patterson" on the basis on which he would like to see the Caribbean Community (Caricom) treat with his administration.

Patterson is chairman of the 15-member Caricom - which has criticised the way Aristide was removed from office - but had agreed to meet Latortue in Kingston ahead of a Caricom summit in St Kitts later this month, at which Haiti will be high on the agenda.

Although Jamaica has begun to shift its stance on Haiti, to accept the reality on the ground, Latortue on Friday described Jamaica's decision to host Aristide as an "unfriendly act" and claimed that the ousted president's presence in the Caribbean, so close to his homeland, could be destabilising to Haiti.

Randall Robinson (above) and Sharon Haye-Webster are accompanying the Aristides to Jamaica.

The Jamaican Government has said that the Aristides will be allowed to stay here for up to 10 weeks, allowing them time to reunite with their two young children who are now in the United States, and for the finalisation of permanent asylum outside the Caribbean.
According to Foreign Minister K D Knight, Aristide has been told that during his stay he should not attempt to use Jamaica as a "launching pad" to attempt to regain power in Haiti.
"There is a clear understanding that this position will be honoured," Knight said, although a precise interpretation of what would be considered a breach or specific constraints placed on Aristide was not spelled out.

However, speaking from St Kitts last night, Aristide supporter and former lobbyist, Hazel Ross-Robinson, said that she expected that Aristide would honour any undertaking given to the Jamaican Government, although she made clear that she was not privy to the specific discussions that the ousted president may have had with Jamaican officials.
Ross-Robinson's husband, the black American activist and writer, Randall Robinson, will be among the handful of supporters travelling with Aristide on a chartered Gulf Stream jet that will land in Jamaica early in the day.

Also on the flight will be Central St Catherine MP, Sharon Haye-Webster, who Patterson sent to be his personal emissary to escort the Aristides; Maxine Waters, the black US Congresswoman from California; Aristide's American lawyer, Ira Kurzban; and Amy Goodman of the advocacy group, Democracy Now.
It was not clear last night at which of the two international airports, Kingston's Manley or Montego Bay's Sangster, the plane will touch down, or where the couple will stay.

However, it has been speculated that they will be put up at either the Government protocol house at Laughing Waters in St Ann, or another St Ann retreat at Lydford, sometimes used by Patterson.
It was expected last night that Aristide will be met by either Foreign Minister Knight or his deputy, Delano Franklyn.

"Protocol is important," explained one source knowledgeable about such procedure. "The Government does not want to send a signal that it is receiving a head of government or a head of state, but it will want to treat the Aristides with dignity. You can take a cue on the protocol issue by who Mr Patterson sent to escort the Aristides. It was not someone of Cabinet rank."
Aristide has insisted that he was all but kidnapped and bundled out of Haiti by US forces on February 29, a claim the Americans deny. The Americans say that Aristide asked for help to get him out of the country in the face of rebels advancing on the Haitian capital and general unrest in Haiti.

Even before Aristide's allegation of kidnap, Caricom called the manner of Aristide's removal a "dangerous precedent" and subsequently urged an international investigation of Aristide's claim. It received support for that position from the 53-member African Union.
The Caribbean Community felt that it was betrayed by a Western troika of the United States, Canada and France who had supported the region's initiative that called for a constitutional settlement of the Haitian crisis, under which Aristide would remain in office for the final two years of his presidency, but share power with the Opposition.

The trio jettisoned the Caricom plan on the grounds that the Opposition would not agree, and put pressure on Aristide to resign and leave the country.
But last night, Ross-Robinson said that the US, France and Canada had participated "in a slow motion coup" and had made Haiti "an object of ridicule and an object of pity".
"Before, Haiti was just a poor country," she said. "Now it is a poor country in turmoil."

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