Caribbean leaders were expected to recognize Haiti's US-backed interim government at an annual summit starting yesterday despite lingering concerns over the removal of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Several leaders in the region say it's time to move forward, now that they have persuaded the Organization of American States to investigate what Aristide calls his Feb. 29 "kidnapping" by the US, a charge Washington flatly denies.
"We were all troubled when the elected president had to leave the country under some strange circumstances," Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell told parliament on Friday. "However, the reality is that Haiti continues to be a member of the international community and the people there do need our support, so we have to find ways of compromising."
Haitian Foreign Minister Yvon Simeon said he was to meet with seven Caribbean prime ministers on Saturday night as a step toward possible recognition by the Caribbean Community.
Following a meeting with foreign ministers, Simeon said he was optimistic about renewing ties.
"There have been a lot of misunderstandings and misinterpretations. We're willing to clarify these for CARICOM," he said.
Simeon said Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue would be willing to come, if invited. Most other leaders in the 15 member bloc were attending.
Latortue had a cordial telephone conversation with Community leaders on Friday, an official said on condition of anonymity.
The community withheld support for Latortue's government during a March summit in St. Kitts, expressing concern about the circumstances of Aristide's departure and Latortue's praise for armed rebels who still control much of Haiti's countryside.
Latortue had been expected at the summit but did not attend in protest at Jamaica giving Aristide temporary exile, saying the move would destabilize the country of 8 million.
But Aristide left Jamaica for South Africa on May 30 and Latortue, who had said he was suspending Haiti's membership in the community, has since made conciliatory statements.
"A lot of things are happening behind the scenes," Trinidadian Prime Minister Patrick Manning said recently, noting he had met with Latortue at an international summit in Mexico in May. "What the entire Caribbean is trying to do is to move on."
Aristide left Haiti on Feb. 29 on a US-chartered plane as rebels advanced on Port-au-Prince. He charges he was kidnapped by US and French agents, but US officials say they acted at his request.
His departure ended a three-week rebellion that left an estimated 300 dead. US-led troops sent to stabilize Haiti were replaced last month by a Brazilian-led peacekeeping force.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS