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| Guy Philippe a la DCPJ, Image de courtoisie |
A former
Haitian rebel leader turned politician has been arrested after taking part in a
radio show.
Guy
Philippe, a former soldier, was the rebel leader of the 2004 Haitian rebellion,
and was recently elected a Senator.
He was
appearing on a radio programme in the capital, Port au Prince, before being
arrested outside the studio.
He is
wanted by the the United States on drug charges, but it is not yet clear if
that was why he was arrested.
Mr Philippe
was elected as Senator for the Grand'Anse district in the November elections,
but has yet to take his seat.
Local media
outlets reported that he was arrested during a live radio broadcast, which the
host interrupted once police arrived.
The US Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists Mr Philippe as a wanted man on charges
of conspiracy to import cocaine and money laundering, but has yet to make any
comment on the arrest in Haiti.
Associated
Press reported that Mr Philippe has spent much of his time in recent years in a
secluded mountainous part of southern Haiti.
In an
interview with the New York Times last October, Mr Philippe spoke from his
destroyed hometown in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which battered the
country's south.
At the
time, he accused the government of deliberately not providing aid to the area.
"They are punishing the people because of me," he told the Times.
The
implication that he is linked to the drugs trade goes back to his time in exile
in the Dominican Republic before the 2004 rebellion.
Mr Philippe
was accused of involvement in drugs trafficking due to his reported use of
expensive luxury hotels - a charge he vehemently denied.
"You
can look in all the banks of the world, but you will not find any money of
mine, because I am not rich," he told reporters at the time.
Credit: DIASPORAMA-HAITI with BBC & Associated Press
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