St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (c) introduces the Chief Minister of Montserrat, Dr. the Hon. John Osbourne (right) to the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, the Hon. Perry Christie (l)

Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 3rd 2004)

St. Kitts and Nevis is to host the next Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caribbean leaders on March 25th and 26th.

“We are not prepared to deliberate in any of our meetings with thugs, anarchists and persons who have a reputation which is contrary to the tenets of civil society to which we subscribe,” said Patterson at the end of a two-day Emergency Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Jamaica Wednesday afternoon. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Education, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, represented St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas at the meeting.

“We are greatly alarmed and dismayed at the situation in Haiti, at the departure from office of President Aristide and the consequences to the constitutional democracy and to law and order in Haiti,” said the Jamaican Prime Minister.

The Caribbean Community on Wednesday called for an international inquiry into the circumstances of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's exile from Haiti and said it would not contribute troops to a multinational peacekeeping force.

Meeting in emergency session in Jamaica, leaders of the 15-nation Caricom group stopped short of condemning the United States' action but called for an independent international body such as the United Nations to investigate the contradictory reports about Aristide's exit.

“Despite what we have heard in public and despite what we have learned in private, we simply say that the situation calls for an investigation of what transpired,” Mr. Patterson told journalists.

He said Aristide told the Caricom leaders by phone from the Central African Republic on Tuesday that he was safe and in good mental and physical health.

Haiti is a CARICOM member and CARICOM has been at the forefront of efforts to find a solution to Haiti's political crisis. The group brokered a power-sharing deal that would have allowed Aristide to remain as head of state, but his political opposition rejected it and Aristide left Haiti as armed rebels approached the capital.

“Despite whatever might have happened, we are reiterating our commitment to the people of Haiti,” said Patterson.

Patterson said an international peacekeeping force was “necessary and vital” but the CARICOM nations would concentrate instead on providing other kinds of aid to the United Nations stabilisation force that is to replace the troops.

“In this way we can provide humanitarian assistance to rebuild the economy and civil society, to the reconstitution of the democratic structures,” he said.

Aristide, who left Haiti for exile in the Central African Republic on Sunday, has claimed U.S. officials forced him out and likened his departure to a kidnapping.

U.S. officials have called that charge nonsense and said they provided a plane to ferry him to safety after he voluntarily resigned to prevent a bloody showdown with the rebels controlling much of his country.