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Actor Danny Glover has taken on a new role - as international statesman. The "Lethal Weapon" star traveled to South Africa late Wednesday to escort exiled former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide back home. Aristide has been issued a diplomatic passport after seven years in exile but has encountered resistance to his return to Haiti before a presidential run-off election on Sunday. Glover questioned why former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier would be allowed to return, but the twice-elected Aristide would not. "People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator is able to return unhindered while a democratic leader...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Jean-Claude-Duvalier, the self-proclaimed "president for life" of Haiti whose corrupt and brutal regime sparked a popular uprising that sent him into a 25-year exile, died Saturday of a heart attack, his attorney said. Reynold George said the 63-year-old ex-leader died at his home. Duvalier, looking somewhat frail, made a surprise return to Haiti in 2011, allowing victims of his regime to pursue legal claims against him and prompting some old allies to rally around him. Neither side gained much support, and the once-feared dictator known as "Baby Doc" spent his late years in relative obscurity in...

It seems that Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier got it into his head that Haiti would welcome him home and - who knows? - summon him to lead the country in its hour of need, much as the Roman Senate once prevailed on Cincinnatus to come back from retirement to fight the barbarians. You want delusional, egomaniacal craziness? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will have to be expanded with an entry for a syndrome to be known as Duvalierism. This thug reigned over Haiti for a brutal decade and a half, from 1971 to 1986, after inheriting the...

(Reuters) - A Haitian prosecutor on Tuesday formally charged former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier with corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds and other alleged crimes committed during his 1971-1986 rule.

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Haitian police took Jean-Claude Duvalier to a courthouse in downtown Port-au-Prince Tuesday afternoon after he was taken into custody. Charges remained unknown. Heavily-armed police picked up the long-ago toppled dictator known as ``Baby Doc'' at the posh Karibe Hotel in Petionville two days after his surprise return from exile. He said nothing as he escorted through the back of the hotel, but a companion laughed when asked if Duvalier was being arrested.

<p>Ousted strongman Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti on Sunday after some 25 years in exile as the country wrestled with a post-election crisis.</p>

Haitian President Rene Preval said: "The damage I have seen here can be compared to the damage you would see if the country was bombed for 15 days. It is like in a war." The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated much of the hilly coastal city on Tuesday also collapsed the elegant presidential palace and his own home. Authorities in Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, are saying they believe the death toll will be between 100,000 and 200,000 and that three-quarters of the city will need to be rebuilt.

Haiti's 'Baby Doc' seeks forgiveness By Tom Leonard in New York Last Updated: 2:38am BST 26/09/2007 Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, the exiled former dictator of Haiti, has asked his countrymen to forgive "wrongs" committed by his regime. His plea is being seen as a bid to soften opposition to him returning there. In a radio speech recorded in Paris and broadcast across the impoverished Caribbean country, Duvalier urged supporters to rally around his small National Unity Party. It was his first public address in years. Duvalier, 56, took over as ruler of Haiti from his father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier,...

Why Haiti's Such a Mess (And Why Bill Clinton Was So Wrong to Prop Up Aristide) By Michael Radu Mr. Radu is Senior Fellow and Co-Chair, Center on Terrorism and Counterterrorism, at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Ten years ago, in September 1994, U.S. troops invaded Haiti under the auspices of restoring democracy, human rights and the rule of law. At the time, the Clinton-conceived operation was hailed by leftists as a model of liberal interventionism, as former Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was restored to power and an oppressive military regime was ousted. There was only one problem...

Haiti Uprising Spreads As PM Seeks Help Feb 17, 9:14 PM (ET) By MICHAEL NORTON PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Haiti's prime minister warned Tuesday of an impending coup and appealed for international help to contend with a bloody uprising that has claimed 57 lives. But the United States and France expressed reluctance to send troops to put down the rebellion. Aid agencies called for urgent international action, warning Haiti is on "the verge of a generalized civil war." The U.N. refugee agency met with officials in Washington to discuss how to confront a feared exodus of Haitians. On Tuesday, airlines...

They were reviled by much of the world and responsible, collectively, for tens of thousands of deaths of those they ruled with brute force and terror. In the end, though, these dictators fled into exile. A look at a few of the most notable: IDI AMIN - One of the 20th century's most notorious dictators, Amin presided over the murder of more than 400,000 of his fellow Ugandans and allegedly ate some of their flesh. His eight-year bloody reign ended in 1979, when Tanzanian forces stormed Uganda in retaliation for an attack by Amin's troops. Saudi Arabia offered him...