23877: (pub) Chamberlain: Haiti-Gang Leader Arrested (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   MIAMI, Dec 10 (AP) -- A street gang leader who joined former soldiers in
a rebellion that forced Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to flee
the country has been arrested in Miami, officials said Friday.
   Butteur Metayer was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said. She declined further comment
about why Metayer was arrested.
   Metayer arrived in Miami on Nov. 28 to treat stomach pains and to see
his mother. At the airport, he was detained for questioning by federal
agents, his cousin Jacques Magene, who was traveling with him, said Friday.
   Magene said Homeland Security agents confiscated Metayer's passport and
green card, and he was told to go to immigration headquarters the next day.
When he did, he was arrested.
   "They say the charge is he just stayed too long out of United States,"
Magene told The Associated Press. He said Metayer was told he had been out
of the country for six months and 14 days -- two weeks longer than allowed
by law.
   Metayer was leader of the Cannibal Army, which turned on Aristide after
gangster Amiot Metayer, his brother, was assassinated last year, accusing
the government of silencing him to prevent him from giving damaging
information about Aristide.
   Magene said he believes his cousin was detained in Miami for political
reasons. "It's not just because of the green card," Magene said.
   A United States-supported interim government took over following a
three-week rebellion that forced ousted Aristide into exile on Feb. 29.
   Under Bush administration policy, Haitians are usually kept in detention
until they are deported or granted asylum.