Former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide on Friday returned to his country after spending seven years in exile in South Africa, according to news reports reaching here.

Aristide, accompanied by his family, was welcomed by thousands of supporters at Toussaint Louverture Airport in the capital Port- au-Prince.

"It is the great day. It is the moment to say good-bye before returning home," Aristide told a press conference before leaving South Africa.

Aristide announced his wish to return in January just after former Haitian president Jean Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti from a 25-year exile in France.

Aristide's return came just two days before the holding of the second round of the presidential and legislative elections.