Haiti issues passport to ex-President Aristide

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haiti has issued a  diplomatic passport to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,  clearing the way for the return from exile of the ousted  ex-leader, officials said yesterday.

Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told Reuters the  diplomatic passport was handed over via an intermediary to  Aristide’s Miami-based lawyer Ira Kurzban, who was due to  deliver it to Aristide.

But it remained unclear exactly when Aristide, a leftist,  charismatic ex-Roman Catholic priest who became Haiti’s first  freely elected