THOUGHT MERCHANT'S POSTEROUS

Washington (CNN) -- The United States warned Monday that the return of exiled former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide could disrupt Sunday's election.

"Mr. Aristide has chosen to remain outside of Haiti for seven years," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "To return this week can only be seen as a conscious choice to impact Haiti's elections. ... Return prior to the election may potentially be destabilizing to the political process."

Aristide's attorney said Saturday that he would return to the island nation within a week.

"He is headed back to Haiti," said Ira Kurzban, Aristide's longtime attorney. "We don't know when yet, but it will be before the elections."

Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, received a new Haitian passport in February.

Toner said that the Haitian constitution gives Aristide the right to return and that the decision to allow that is up to the Haitian government.

"We would urge former President Aristide to delay his return until after the electoral process has concluded to permit the Haitian people to cast their ballots in a peaceful atmosphere," Toner said at a briefing at the State Department unrelated to Haiti, on U.S. aid to refugees fleeing unrest in Libya.

And Toner asked South Africa, where Aristide and his family have lived since he left Haiti voluntarily in 2004, to also make the case against his return.

"We encourage the South African government as a committed partner to Haiti's stability to urge former president Aristide to delay his return until after the elections," Toner said.