S.Africa to accept exiled Aristide
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has been given permission to stay in South Africa until the situation in his own volatile country returns to stability.
The South African government said it would accede to a request by the African Union and the Caribbean Community for Aristide to move to the country from Jamaica.
Aristide left Haiti amid a rebel advance on the capital, Port-au-Prince on February 29 for the Central African Republic. From there he went to Jamaica in mid-March, which offered to let him stay for up to 10 weeks.
France and the United States were consulted about the move to South Africa and agreed to the arrangement.
But the main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, opposed the move on the grounds of human rights abuses under Aristide's rule in Haiti.
The South African government will be responsible for Aristide's residence and upkeep while he lives in the country with his wife and children, according to Cabinet spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe.
Jamaica's decision to host Aristide angered Washington and Haiti's U.S.-back interim government, which said his return to the Caribbean could destabilize Haiti, just 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Jamaica.
A caretaker administration is running the impoverished country pending elections next year.
Aristide has recently been staying at a tightly secured government-owned villa in the rural parish of St. Ann in Jamaica.
He has yet to speak publicly since his arrival, but a Jamaican government-appointed spokesman said he planned to give a news conference before leaving the island.
CNN Johannesburg Bureau Chief Charlayne Hunter-Gault contributed to this report.
