Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s hold on the presidency of Haiti shattered Saturday night when he made a last-minute plea to the American ambassador that set off late-night phone calls to Washington, officials said on Sunday. By dawn, he was on a plane departing for his second exile, with no final destination in mind, they said. Shortly after dawn, an American 757 dispatched by the Pentagon carried Mr. Aristide, his wife and a small security detail on their way to the Central African Republic. [He arrived there early Monday morning, Agence France-Presse reported.] In a sign of his rapidly sliding fortunes, Mr. Aristide was denied exile in South Africa, his preference, because that country’s president, Thabo Mbeki, did not want to provoke a political controversy at home, said a senior State Department official. Mr. Aristide is eventually expected to move to another country. Full Story