Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will take permanent asylum in South Africa but not until it holds general elections next month, Jamaican officials said Thursday. The officials said on condition of anonymity that South African President Thabo Mbeki's government demanded the delay in Aristide's arrival because it could be "politically unsettling" before the election. South Africa presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said there would be no immediate comment. Opposition leaders have said the government should not support Aristide, once hailed as a champion of democracy but now accused of corruption and violence against his opponents.
| But Thabo's got such a soft spot for corrupt dictators! |
Mbeki was among few international leaders to attend Haiti's bicentennial independence celebrations this year and is known to have had sex with get along well with Aristide. In the early days of Aristide's exile, South Africa had said it would accept him permanently if he asked for asylum. |