PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The Haitian general who for three years defied overwhelming international pressure to restore democracy here resigned Monday amid catcalls and celebrations.
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras resigned in a public ceremony, paving the way for the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the man he toppled in a bloody 1991 coup.
President Clinton, in his televised address Monday, said he was "pleased to announce that President Aristide will return home to resume his rightful place this Saturday," but warned "the job . . remains difficult and dangerous."
Cedras' resignation speech was all but drowned out by shouts of "hoodlum" and "thief." He told the crowd, "Where I will be, I will be suffering when you will be suffering and I will be happy when you are happy."
He said he decided to leave Haiti "so my presence will not be a motive to create terror."
Spain, Argentina and Panama have offered him asylum. U.S. officials refused to rule out possible sanctuary in the USA.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Stan Schrager said, "The past three years have brought unlimited suffering to the Haitian people, who have known more than their share of tragedy, witnessed more than their share of death, and lost more than their share of hope. Those days are over."
