DEPOSED Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide has accused France of conspiring with the United States, and also affirmed that he has not officially resigned and still plans to return to the country, according to the BBC’s online edition.

In a telephone conversation with Haiti specialist Claude Ribbe, Aristide stated that he had signed a document "to avoid bloodshed," but that it was not a formal resignation.

Aristide emphasized that he was the victim of a coup d’état and was forced by "U.S. agents to leave the country. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell emphatically denied that charge, asserting that Aristide went into exile of his own accord.

South Africa is among other nations calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide’s deposition last Sunday.

The George W. Bush administration today expressed its opposition to an investigation into the circumstances surrounding White House complicity in the Haitian president’s removal, PL reported from Washington.

In response a CARICOM call asking Washington to clarify whether it forced Aristide to resign, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher stated that there was nothing to investigate, and the department certainly not want to encourage an investigation, nor did it see any need for one.

U.S. Congress members are also calling for an investigation to determine up to what point the White House was involved in deposing the Haitian president.

Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson, president of CARICOM, maintains that Aristide’s removal is a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments everywhere.