Via Reuters: UPDATE 2-Haiti opens door for return of ex-president Aristide. Excerpt:
Haiti's government is ready to issue a diplomatic passport to ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, opening the way for his return home from exile in South Africa, a senior official said on Monday.
Aristide's Miami-based lawyer formally requested the passport in a letter to Haitian authorities, asking them to guarantee security for the former leader's return to his poor, earthquake-battered Caribbean homeland.
No timing was specified, but the United States and other western donors are wary that the reappearance of the leftist former Roman Catholic priest on his home soil could disrupt an already edgy political climate after chaotic presidential and legislative elections held in November.
"The Council of Ministers, under the leadership of President Rene Preval, decided that a diplomatic passport be issued to President Aristide, if he asks for it," Fritz Longchamp, general secretary for the presidency, told Reuters.
Aristide, who became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1990 before being driven out by an armed revolt, said this month he was ready to return to his homeland "today, tomorrow, at any time."
His willingness to go home follows the controversial return to Haiti on Jan. 16 of former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The reappearance of Duvalier, 59, was judged unhelpful by many foreign governments. He now faces charges in Haiti of corruption, theft and crimes against humanity.
The return of Aristide, who is still popular and could mobilize fanatical support in the streets, would complicate the charged atmosphere as Haiti awaits first-round results from the Nov. 28 elections, expected to be released on Wednesday.
Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party, the biggest in the country, was barred from the poll by Haiti's electoral authorities.
The Western Hemisphere's poorest state is in the grip of a cholera epidemic and struggling to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people.
