15492: (Chamberlain) Dominican-Haitian Arrests (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By ANDRES CALA

   SANTO DOMINGO, May 7 (AP) -- A former Haitian police chief and four
others suspected of plotting against their government were detained in the
neighboring Dominican Republic, authorities said Wednesday.
   Dominican soldiers arrested Guy Philippe, former police chief in the
northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien, and the others Tuesday in the border
town of Dajabon, said Gen. Fernando Cruz of the national investigative
department.
   "These people are being investigated because of allegations that they
are trying to reach Haiti with the aim of conspiring" against the
government, Cruz said.
   Edwin Paraison, Haiti's consul general, said they were caught "in a
meeting to seek sympathizers for their cause, which is to achieve power
through non-legitimate means." The five had not been charged. He did not
say if Haiti would seek their extradition.
   Philippe, a staunch opponent of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was
the most widely known of the five.
   He fled across the border from Haiti in October 2000 with six other top
police officials. The government accused him and the others of trying to
overthrow Aristide and of masterminding an attack on the National Palace in
December 20001. At least 10 were killed in the attack and violence that
followed.
   Philippe has denied all the government accusations.
   Authorities identified the other four Haitians detained as Paul Arcelin,
a former Haitian ambassador to the Dominican Republic in the 1980s; Prefler
Toussaint, a former police official; Bovinel Alcegard, a banker; and Hans
Germain.
   Early Wednesday, gunmen damaged a hydroelectric plant outside the
Haitian capital in what Haitian government spokesman Mario Dupuy said was
an "act of sabotage" apparently related to the arrests in the Dominican
Republic.
   Dupuy said the arrested men had been planning "destabilization
operations and apparently, they had time to begin."
   The power went off immediately in nearby towns following the early
morning attack on the Lake Peligre plant in the Central Plateau region,
about 35 miles northeast of Port-au-Prince.