Haiti recalls envoy as Aristide arrives in Jamaica
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- Haiti's interim government Monday recalled its ambassador to Jamaica, shortly before ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived there, the Haitian prime minister's office said.
The move was widely seen as an expression of the government's disapproval that Jamaica is allowing the exiled Aristide and his wife to travel there.
Aristide landed Monday in Kingston, and was immediately taken by Jamaican officials to Montego Bay.
A spokesman for Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said Haiti will stop short of freezing diplomatic relations with Jamaica. Latortue has refused to meet with Aristide and has said that the exiled Haitian leader's return to the region would only help to heighten tensions in his homeland.
Aristide arrived in Jamaica from the Central African Republic, where he has been living since leaving his turbulent country February 29 in the face of an advancing rebel insurgency.
Aristide has said he was abducted by the United States and forced to leave, a charge Washington has vehemently denied.
Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, disbanded the country's military in 1995 after it overthrew him in a 1991 coup. A U.S. military intervention restored him to power in 1994.
Last week, Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said Aristide would travel to Jamaica to see his children sometime this week.
"Mr. Aristide has expressed a wish to return temporarily to the Caribbean with his wife and to be reunited with their two young children who are currently in the United States," said a statement posted Thursday on Patterson's Web site.
Patterson's statement said the former Haitian president is not seeking political asylum in Jamaica.
"His stay in Jamaica is not expected to be in excess of eight to 10 weeks," the statement said.
Over the weekend, U.S. officials were critical of Aristide's travel plans.
"We think it's a bad idea," U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We believe that President Aristide, in a sense, forfeited his ability to lead his people, because he did not govern democratically."
Jamaica, which lies 115 miles (185 kilometers) west of Haiti, is a member of the Caribbean Community, which last week called for an international inquiry into the circumstances of Aristide's departure.
In Haiti, violence between Aristide supporters and opponents continues as an international contingent of military peacekeepers -- including U.S. troops -- tries to contain the fighting. (Full story)
Late Sunday, a U.S. Marine was shot and wounded in Haiti's capital, a Marine spokesman said. The Marine's wounds were not life-threatening, and he was transported to Miami for hospital treatment, Lt. Col. Dave LaPan said Monday.
It is the first reported U.S. casualty since U.S. forces were dispatched to Haiti two weeks ago in hopes of bringing stability in the wake of Aristide's departure.
LaPan said the incident occurred in Bel Air, a neighborhood near the National Palace that is home to many Aristide supporters. A group of Marines was on patrol in the area and came under fire at 9:35 p.m. One Marine was hit. His name was not released.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck contributed to this report.
