(17 Jan 2011)
1. Various of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier at his hotel balcony
2. Set up of the French Ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret, at the French Embassy
3. SOUNDBITE: (French) Didier Le Bret, French Ambassador to Haiti:
"(Once I found out) I immediately called the Foreign Affairs Minister, who is our normal correspondent when we have a diplomatic message to pass on. I couldn't contact her so I called the Prime Minister right away, Jean Max Bellerive, and I informed him that in an hour or so, more or less, Mr Duvalier was going to arrive to Port-au Prince."
4. Cutaway of media
5. SOUNDBITE: (French) Didier Le Bret, French Ambassador to Haiti:
"What I'm saying is just that today we have a complicated situation. I think the presence here of Jean Claude Duvalier, whatever his reasons, does not facilitate the work we have started with the country's authorities and the international community. What we need nowadays is calm, peace, we need to be able to continue working, like we did from the beginning, with the authorities of the country."
6. Reporter writing in notebook
7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Henry Robert Sterling, Former Haitian ambassador in Paris and Madrid, and Duvalier's friend:
"He is a former president of the Republic and he has the right to have a passport, therefore after the terrible earthquake that shattered Haiti, he deeply felt that on his soul."
8. Cutaway of media
9. Sterling speaking with media
STORYLINE:
Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier ensconced himself in a high-end hotel in Port-au-Prince on Monday following his surprise return to a country deep in crisis, leaving many to wonder if the once-feared strongman will prompt renewed conflict in the midst of a political stalemate.
Duvalier met with allies inside the hotel in the hills above downtown Port-au-Prince and spoke publicly only through emissaries, who gave vague explanations for his sudden and mysterious appearance, nearly 25 years after he was forced into exile by a popular uprising against his brutal regime.
Duvalier later appeared on a balcony of the upscale Karibe Hotel and waved to supporters and journalists outside.
France, where Duvalier has spent most of his exile, said it had no advance notice of the trip.
The French Ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret, said he only had notice of his arrival one hour and a half before the plane landed in Port-au -Prince.
"I immediately called the Foreign Affairs Minister who is our normal correspondent when we have a diplomatic message to pass on. I couldn't contact her so I called the Prime Minister right away," he added.
Le Bret called the situation "complicated" and said "the presence here of Jean Claude Duvalier, whatever his reasons, does not facilitate the work we have started with the country's authorities and the international community."
He added: "What we need nowadays is calm, peace, we need to be able to continue working, like we did from the beginning, with the authorities of the country."
Henry Robert Sterling, a former Haitian ambassador in France and Spain, who said he was speaking on behalf of Duvalier, portrayed the 59-year-old former "president for life" as merely a concerned elder statesmen who wanted to see the effects of the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake on his homeland.
"He is a former president of the Republic and he has the right to have a passport, therefore after the terrible earthquake that shattered Haiti, he deeply felt that on his soul," Sterling said.
Duvalier, however, apparently faces no charges in Haiti and there were no attempts to arrest him.

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