Haiti police arrest a suspected mastermind behind assassination of president

Haitian police said July 11 they had arrested one of the suspected masterminds in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, a Haitian American man whom authorities accused of hiring mercenaries to oust and replace Moise. Moise was shot dead on July 7 at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities describe as a unit of assassins formed of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, plunging the troubled Caribbean nation deeper into turmoil. National Police Chief Leon Charles told a news conference the arrested man, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, was in contact with a firm that provides security for politicians and recruited the suspects in the killing. He said Sanon flew into Haiti from Florida on a private jet accompanied by several of the alleged gunmen. The gunmen’s initial mission was to protect Sanon, but they later received a new order: Arrest the president, Charles said. Haitian police have arrested 18 Colombians and three Haitian Americans, including Sanon, over the murder, Charles said. (Reuters) These articles were provided by The Japan Times Alpha.