30768: (news) Chamberlain: Haitian former rebel leader wanted on drug charges (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. and Haitian anti-drug agents
tried on Monday to arrest on drug charges a leader of the 2004 rebellion
that ousted then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, police officials said.
     U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Haitian police raided
the home of former army officer Guy Philippe near the southern town of Les
Cayes, said Henriot Toussaint, the police chief for the southern region.
     "They came aboard two planes and four helicopters to try to arrest Guy
Philippe, but they did not find him," Toussaint told Reuters.
     Police officials said an international warrant was issued against
Philippe, who ran for president in the national election that followed
Aristide's ouster, for his arrest on drug-related charges.
     "The policemen placed under my command did not take part in the
operation because we were not informed in advance about the operation,"
said Toussaint. "It was exclusively conducted by DEA agents and other
police officers from Port-au-Prince."
     Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long been a key
transshipment point for South American cocaine headed for markets in the
United States and Europe.
     Haiti and the United States have signed an agreement that allows DEA
agents to pursue and arrest drug dealers within the Caribbean country's
borders and territorial waters.
     The DEA office in Miami had no immediate comment on the raid and the
DEA media relations office in Washington D.C. did not return telephone
calls. The U.S. embassy spokesman in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was not
immediately available for comment.
     Plagued by frequent bouts of political instability and a feeble
national police force, Haiti has been an open territory for traffickers
lured by miles (km) of unpatrolled coastline, remote airstrips and corrupt
law enforcement.
     Philippe, a former army officer and police commissioner, went into
exile in 2000 after a disagreement with the government and police but
returned in February 2004 to command the bloody rebellion that toppled
Aristide's government.
     Philippe finished well back in the pack in the February 2006 election
won by President Rene Preval.
     Preval had complained that the United States had not used its power to
counter drug dealers' activities and said Haiti would never enjoy lasting
peace and stability unless the drug problem is dealt with.
     While the U.S. and Haitian agents failed to capture Philippe, they did
arrest a hotel owner, Lavaud Francois,  on drug trafficking charges on
Monday, said Osman Desmangles, a spokesman for police in the northern town
of Gonaives.
     Desmangles said Lavaud was the subject of an international arrest
warrant and was taken by helicopter to Port-au-Prince.