Aristide Reportedly to Regain Power in Haiti

Haitian lawmakers and ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide reached a deal late Sunday to restore democracy in the Caribbean nation and return Aristide to power, Organization of American States sources said.

The agreement calls for Aristide’s reinstatement and for the general who headed the revolt to remain in his post, they said.

“It’s all here,” the sources quoted an exultant Aristide as saying as he waved a copy of the agreement. He had met in three-day marathon talks with representatives of the regime installed after he was ousted in a Sept. 30 coup.

The agreement, written in French, reportedly said, “The two sides agree to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide in his post as constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Haiti.”

But the document did not give a date for Aristide’s return, the sources added.

The sources said the agreement was made possible only after Aristide, the first freely elected president in Haiti’s history, finally gave up his insistence that Gen. Raoul Cedras, who headed the coup, be removed as army chief.

The document reportedly was signed by Aristide, Senate Speaker Dejean Belizaire and House Speaker Alexandre Medard, who represented the post-coup regime in the talks, and OAS Secretary General Joao Baena Soares.

Baena Soares said Aristide must accept the decisions made by the Parliament after the coup.