Aristide's 'Removal' from Haiti 'Unconstitutional': African Union

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ADDIS ABABA - The African Union, which groups 53 states on the continent, has described Jean-Bertrand Aristide's "removal" as president of Haiti as "unconstitutional," in a statement received by AFP.

"The African Union expresses the view that the unconstitutional way by which President Aristide was removed set a dangerous precedent for a duly elected person and wishes that no action be taken to legitimize the rebel forces" in Haiti, said the statement released by the AU Commission, the body's main decision making body.

The head of the AU Commission, Mali's former president Alpha Oumar Konare, arrived Tuesday in the Central African Republic and held an hour of talks with the exiled former leader of Haiti, officials in Bangui said.

Neither man would comment after the meeting.

Konare "came here to meet president Aristide, gather information and then report back to the African Union so that it can take a formal position on the presence of Aristide in Africa and, more specifically, in the Central African Republic," Deputy Foreign Minister Guy Moskit told AFP.

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