Duvalier Reaches Temporary Asylum in Southeastern France

Ousted dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti, who had borne the title of president-for-life only 12 hours before, reached temporary asylum in France on Friday night after fleeing his troubled Caribbean island in a U.S. Air Force plane.

The C-141 transport, carrying Duvalier and an entourage of 24, landed at the airport in Grenoble near the Alps in southeastern France. French riot police kept journalists far from the runway. The plane soon parked in almost total darkness, the only bright lights coming from police vehicles that had converged nearby.

It was not clear where the 34-year-old Duvalier and his family and entourage had gone to spend the night. But Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, later reported that they were taken to the resort town of Talloires on Lake Annecy, not far from the Swiss frontier.

Duvalier and his family own four homes in France and in the principality of Monaco, but neither Grenoble nor Lake Annecy is close to any of them. French news reports suggested that the government had diverted the Air Force plane there to keep Duvalier from landing in the Paris area, where his presence might provoke trouble from leftist groups and the small Haitian community. The government, facing parliamentary elections March 16, obviously wanted to avoid any difficulty during the campaign.

In Grenoble itself, a group of 50 extreme leftists, joined by a handful of Haitians, had come to the airport road to chant, “Murderer Duvalier, out of France.”

Can’t Stay Indefinitely

Hours before Duvalier arrived, the French Foreign Ministry insisted that France, while it was cooperating with the United States in helping to take Duvalier out of Haiti, did not intend that the fallen dictator remain indefinitely.

“To facilitate a democratic transition that the Haitian people desire, to avoid serious trouble, and in cooperation with the United States, the French government accepts that Mr. Duvalier comes to France before going to another country,” the Foreign Ministry said in a communique.

But other governments were quick to announce that Duvalier was not welcome, and it appeared doubtful that the ousted president would find another asylum easily. Nevertheless, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that he is sure something can be arranged.

The spokesman also stressed that the decision to grant temporary asylum was made together with the United States.

May Drive to Nice

French television reported that Duvalier, after spending the night on Lake Annecy, would drive to his villa in Nice on the Mediterranean coast.

Duvalier, who has relatives living in Paris, also owns an 18th-Century chateau in the Val d’Oise area outside Paris, an apartment in the Paris suburb of Neuilly, and a large apartment in Monte Carlo in Monaco. But the French press reported that he is not likely to enjoy any of them for much time. His stay in France, according to these reports, would last no more than eight days.

Even before Duvalier fled, Switzerland, Greece and Spain announced that they would not accept him. After the news that he had left Haiti, Morocco and Gabon were mentioned as possible places of refuge. But both African countries quickly denied this. “It is out of the question,” Moroccan government sources said in Rabat. “This report is without foundation.”