30770: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Rebel Leader (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   LES CAYES, July 18 (AP) -- A former rebel leader and presidential
candidate has gone into hiding after Drug Enforcement Administration agents
launched a military-style operation to arrest him in this Haitian town, a
member of his party said Wednesday.
   Ronald Etienne, a deputy in Haiti's lower house of parliament, told The
Associated Press that DEA and Haitian anti-drug agents raided Guy
Philippe's home Monday but did not find him. Philippe has long denied
accusations of ties to drug trafficking.
   "He's in hiding and covering himself. It's normal under the
circumstances because he feels his life is in danger," said Etienne, a
member of the Front for National Reconstruction, a minor political party
led by Philippe. Etienne declined to say how he knew Philippe was in hiding
and said he did not know his location.
   Shortly after dawn Monday, five helicopters, two airplanes and at least
a dozen DEA and Haitian agents converged on Philippe's home, Etienne said
in a telephone interview.
   Haitian police said Tuesday that DEA agents carried out an operation in
Les Cayes. But U.S. and Haitian authorities have declined to acknowledge if
they are pursuing Philippe, who helped overthrow former President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
   Philippe ran for president last year and shortly afterward moved to a
rural area of Les Cayes, Haiti's third largest town.
   Etienne said party officials were not in contact with Philippe but would
support him against any effort to prosecute or extradite him for alleged
drug trafficking.
   "We have already contacted lawyers and want to meet with the Ministry of
Justice because they say they are not aware of what is happening," Etienne
said.
   Philippe's home was vacant Wednesday except for a groundskeeper who
allowed AP journalists to view the property, which is protected by a
concrete gate, a razor-wire fence and steel bars over the windows.
   Neighbors said Philippe's Ecuadorean-born wife and two children left the
property early Wednesday and may have fled Haiti.