Haiti police blame Colombian, US suspects in president’s slaying

A 28-member hit squad made up of Americans and Colombians assassinated President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police said on July 8, adding that eight were still at large as the country lurched into political chaos.

One day after Moise was killed and his wife Martine wounded by gunmen in their Port-au-Prince home, the poorest country in the Americas has no president or working parliament and two men claiming to be in charge as prime minister.

Police paraded some of the suspects before the media on July 8, along with Colombian passports and weapons they had seized. The head of Haiti's National Police, Leon Charles, vowed to track the other eight down.

"It was a team of 28 assailants, 26 of whom were Colombian, who carried out the operation to assassinate the president," Charles said at the press conference in Port-au-Prince.

"We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose."

Previously authorities had said four of the suspects had been killed. Charles did not explain the discrepancy.

Taiwan confirmed late on July 8 that 11 of the suspects were arrested on its embassy grounds, after security discovered a group of armed men had broken into the courtyard of the property that had been shuttered "for safety reasons" after Moise's murder.

The embassy gave permission to Haitian police to enter the grounds, said Joanne Ou, a spokeswoman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The process went smoothly," Taiwan's embassy in Port-au-Prince said in a statement, describing Moise's assassination as "cruel and barbaric."

Colombia's defense minister Diego Molano said at least six members of the hit squad appeared to be Colombian...