a101: Ecuador will deport alleged Haiti coup plotter (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     QUITO, Ecuador, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A former police officer accused of
plotting this week's assault on Haiti's presidential palace will be
deported from Ecuador within days, authorities in this Andean nation said
on Friday.
     Guy Philippe, accused of masterminding an apparent attempted coup
against Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, traveled this week to
Ecuador but was detained at Quito's airport upon request by Haitian
authorities.
     "He will be deported in the next few hours to the last country visited
before he came to Ecuador, and this will be Panama," Interior Ministry
representative Victor Hugo Olmedo, who is responsible for the case, told
Reuters.
     "I have considered it necessary to respect the principles of
international law and national and international security. Based on this, I
have decided to deport Guy Philippe," he said.
     Philippe has denied any involvement in the apparent coup attempt.
     Thirteen people were killed in the attack and resulting mob violence
in Haiti on Monday. Aristide was not harmed and his government remained
intact.
     An Immigration Police source told Reuters it could take several days
to coordinate Philippe's deportation with Panamanian authorities.