By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterA LARGE contingent of Jamaica Defence Force soldiers and personnel from the Jamaica Constabulary Force will be providing security for the arrival of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife, Mildred, who are scheduled to fly into the island today.
"Security will be very tight," a senior police officer associated with the security detail for the ex-president's arrival told The Gleaner yesterday.
He said that Mr. Aristide may be arriving at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, and that police from the Protective Services Division who will be part of the security detail, have been advised to prepare for at least a week away from base.
Efforts to contact Information Minister Burchell Whiteman and K.D. Knight, Foreign Affairs Minister, for comment on the arrangements for Mr. Aristide's arrival were unsuccessful but yesterday, Mr. Whiteman said on radio that given the security concerns, no announcements would be made regarding the ex-president's arrival.
Mr. Aristide's visit to Jamaica, is expected to last for about two months. He fled his violence-torn country on February 29 for the Central African Republic.
He will be accompanied by an eight-member delegation including Sharon Hay-Webster, the PNP's Member of Parliament for St. Catherine South Central, the U.S. author Randall Robinson, and Maxine Walters, U.S. Congresswoman. Amy Goodman, a reporter for Democracy Today and a Washington Post reporter are also scheduled to arrive on the private flight with Mr. Aristide from the Central African Republic.
Gerard Latortue, the new Prime Minister of Haiti, had said that Jamaica's offer to host Mr. Aristide was an 'unfriendly' act.
Mr. Latortue was scheduled to arrive in the island on a separate mission on the weekend but his trip did not materialise and government officials could not say when he would arrive.
