15497: (Bellegarde-Smith) Haitians Suspected in Coup Plot Detained (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>

Haitians Suspected in Coup Plot Detained

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (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.
05/07/03 21:33 EDT


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