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10/22/2004:

"Aristide Denies Ties to Violence in Haiti and Calls for Dialogue"

JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 20 - The exiled former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, angrily denied accusations on Wednesday that he was fomenting violence in his homeland and accused Haiti's interim leader of brutally suppressing dissent.

Gang and political violence has killed more than 50 Haitians in the past two weeks.

"Latortue, stop the lying, stop the killings," Mr. Aristide said in a statement from South Africa directed at Gérard Latortue, Haiti's interim prime minister.

"True dialogue is the only solution. With the lives of millions at stake, public officials must act responsibly," he said in the statement.

Mr. Aristide has been in South Africa since May after he was forced into exile in February in what he says was a coup engineered by the United States.

The statement was his first public reaction to an attack from Mr. Latortue last Sunday. In it, Mr. Latortue accused Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, of allowing Mr. Aristide to direct a violent campaign in Haiti by his supporters.

Full Article: Reuters