Haiti's national police have arrested multiple men suspected of assassinating President Jovenel Moïse, the government announced, adding that a gun battle with the alleged perpetrators lasted several hours.
Port-au-Prince.- The suspected assassins were arrested “shortly before 6 pm” local time on Wednesday, Haiti’s minister of communication Frantz Exantus announced on Twitter.
While Exantus did not identify any of the alleged perpetrators or say how many had been brought into custody, Haiti’s national police chief later told a press conference that two “mercenaries” had been captured, while four others were killed in a firefight. He added that three police officers who were briefly taken hostage by the purported assassins had been freed, though still vowed to kill or detain the remaining gunmen.
Unconfirmed footage alleged to show the armed standoff has circulated on social media, in which barrages of gunfire are heard as a column of black smoke appears to rise from a building in the distance.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph’s office said earlier that his administration was ensuring the “continuity of the state” following the “villainous assassination,” later adding that the prime minister had been in touch with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Unknown gunmen, allegedly announcing they were agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA, raided Moïse’s residence on Wednesday at 1 a.m. and gunned him down. Moïse’s wife Martine was also injured in the attack and was flown to a Florida hospital in critical condition. She had earlier been reported as dead on arrival, but apparently survived the attack.
The Haitian government said that the assassins “spoke English and Spanish,” declaring a state of siege and launching a manhunt after the perpetrators.
Security forces in Haiti have shot dead four suspected killers of President Jovenel Moise and captured two others, as the assassination threatens to plunge the Caribbean nation into a deeper crisis.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 8, 2021
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WORLD REACTS TO ASSASSINATION OF HAITI’S PRESIDENT
.- World leaders have reacted with shock and revulsion to the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. The United Nations Security Council expressed its dismay over the murder of Haiti’s president, who was slain in his home in an attack that wounded his wife.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader called the killing on Wednesday “an attack against the democratic order in Haiti and the region” and ordered the “immediate closure” of the country’s border with Haiti.
“Council members say they are deeply shocked by the assassination of President Moïse earlier in the day … and are concerned about the fate of the First Lady Martine Moise, who was also shot and wounded in the attack,” France’s UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the assassination in the troubled Caribbean nation, which has grown increasingly unstable in recent years.
Colombian President Iván Duque condemned what he called a “cowardly act” and expressed solidarity with Haiti. He called for an urgent mission by the Organization of American States “to protect democratic order.”
“The secretary-general calls on all Haitians to preserve the constitutional order, remain united in the face of this abhorrent act, and reject all violence,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The United Nations will continue to stand with the government and the people of Haiti.”
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted “this crime carries a risk of instability and [a] spiral of violence." France denounced the “cowardly assassination.” “All light must be shed on this crime, which takes place in a political and security climate that has severely worsened,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “I urge all those in Haitian politics to act with calm and restraint.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged calm. “I am shocked and saddened at the death of President Moïse,” Johnson said on Twitter, sending condolences to Haiti. “This is an abhorrent act and I call for calm at this time.”
I am shocked and saddened at the death of President Moïse. Our condolences are with his family and the people of Haiti. This is an abhorrent act and I call for calm at this time.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 7, 2021
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also condemned the assassination. “I’d like to make an appeal for political unity to get out of this terrible trauma that the country is going through,” Sánchez said.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed his “grave sorrow” about the “cowardly” killing, extending his condolences to Moïse’s family and the Haitian people on social media.
Argentina’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the assassination of Moïse, reaffirmed its solidarity with Haiti, and expressed its rejection of the use of violence. “Argentina hopes that peace and tranquility will soon be recovered in the country and asks for respect for democratic institutions. It calls for the perpetrators of the crime to be quickly identified so that they can be held responsible for their actions,” it said.
Bolivia’s President Luis Arce said: “We condemn these acts of violence … our condolences to the Haitian people.” (RHC)
