23761: (pub) Chamberlain: Prison guards arrested in suspected death plot (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov 9 (AP) -- Haitian authorities detained at least 21
prison guards in connection with an alleged plot to kill prisoners
affiliated with ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a top official in
Haiti's most prominent rights group said Tuesday.
   Police spokesman Gessy Coicou said 21 prison guards were detained for
corruption and other allegations, but declined to comment on the alleged
plot or say whether charges would be filed.
   Pierre Esperance, the local director of the National Coalition for
Haitian Rights, said police had said the detained guards worked in the
National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince.
   Some inmates from Aristide's Lavalas Family party have been transferred
to undisclosed locations for protection, he said.
   The director of the national penitentiary system, Claude Eugene Theodat,
said some prisoners had been transferred to jails in three other towns as a
security measure but declined further details.
   Top officials in Aristide's administration, such as former Prime
Minister Yvon Neptune and former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, have
been in the National Penitentiary for several months. Esperance said police
would not say if they were targets, but that neither had been transferred
out of the penitentiary.
   The U.S.-backed interim government has accused Neptune and Privert of
involvement in the killing of Aristide opponents in the western city of St.
Marc during the February revolt that led up to Aristide's ouster. Neither
has been tried.
   Several Lavalas politicians have been held in Haiti's largest prison
since Aristide left on a U.S.-chartered plane Feb. 29. Aristide, now in
exile in South Africa, claimed he was kidnapped by U.S. forces, accusations
that the U.S. government denies.
   Esperance said police began detaining police officers Friday.
   Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has accused Aristide of backing a
recent wave of violence in Port-au-Prince. Aristide has denied it.
   Violence has surged since Sept. 30, when police reportedly fired on
protesters demanding Aristide's return, killing two. The beheaded bodies of
three police were found the next day.
   Since Sept. 30, at least 80 people have been killed in politically
motivated clashes in the capital of Port-au-Prince.