Haiti Premier Hits Aristide’s Refusal to Return for Talks

Acting Haitian Prime Minister Robert Malval has for the first time publicly lashed out against the Caribbean nation’s exiled president, saying Jean-Bertrand Aristide is hurting his country by refusing to return for talks, the New York Times said Sunday.

Malval was interviewed by the newspaper Saturday after returning home after unsuccessful efforts to organize a national conference in Haiti to break the political deadlock over returning Aristide to power.

The idea was rejected by Aristide, who said the security of his supporters could not be guaranteed inside the turbulent country.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Friday expressed support for Aristide after a Los Angeles Times report that Washington had abandoned efforts to restore him to power.

The New York Times said Malval, who quit this week but is still acting premier, described Haiti as caught in a trap between Aristide, the country’s first democratically elected pesident, and Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the army chief who ousted him in 1991.

Malval said Aristide had made a choice to remain abroad as “a sort of flag bearer, a mythic symbol” while his country was going “straight to hell.”

Malval was appointed prime minister in August after helping to negotiate a July accord with the military that provided for the president’s return to office.

The agreement fell through when Cedras refused to resign as armed forces commander.