Aristide’s passport to home

The Haitian government says it has issued a new passport to former president Jean Bertrand Aristide enabling him to end his exile in South Africa and return to the impoverished, French-speaking Caribbean country.
“The passport was issued on Monday. All the formalities have been completed,” an official confirmed, adding that the passport has been handed over to one of Aristide’s lawyers, Ira Kurzban, who is based in Miami.
Kurzban had arrived in Haiti in recent days to get the passport.
Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically-elected leader has been living in South Africa since he was ousted in 2004. In recent months, he has repeatedly requested to be allowed to return to his homeland.
He was forced to flee amid a popular revolt after two stints as president.
Haiti has been in turmoil since the January 12, 2010 earthquake killed over 300,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless.
Presidential elections are also adding to increased tensions, with a long-delayed second round run-off to be held in March.
Last month, former dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier surprisingly returned from exile in France after 25 years, further fueling tensions. (CMC)