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- Another American has been arrested as a suspect in the killing of Haiti's president.
- Haitian-born, Florida-based doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon reportedly recruited the assailants.
- Authorities said he went to Haiti with "political motives" last month, The New York Times reported.
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Haitian officials said they arrested a US-based doctor as a suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, The New York Times reported.
Officials said they suspect Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-born doctor based in Florida, played a leading role in the killing and allegedly recruited others involved in the assassination, The Washington Post reported.
Moïse was shot and killed on July 7 at his home in Port-au-Prince. The assailants allegedly posed as US Drug Enforcement Agency agents before going into Moïse's home, authorities said.
National Police Chief Leon Charles said Sanon arrived in the country in early June by private plane with a "political objective, the Times reported.
Sanon used a Venezuelan security firm based in the US to recruit assailants, according to the Post The motive for the assassination is still not clear.
Two other Americans, James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55, have been arrested in connection to the killing, the Times reported. Solages and Vincent said they only worked as translators for the assailants, and that the goal was to bring Moïse to the national palace but not to kill him, the Times reported.
Other suspects in the assassination include 18 Colombians, most of whom were former soldiers, the Times reported.
The country now has a power vacuum and no clear leader.
The Post reported four men have claimed to be the leader of Haiti:
- Claude Joseph, the acting prime minister, who is internationally recognized but has been challenged domestically
- Ariel Henry, who Moïse appointed as prime minister two days before his death
- Joseph Lambert, who was voted as acting president by the Senate, which currently only has a third of its 30 members
- Supreme Court Judge Joseph Mécène Jean-Louis, who was appointed as the interim president in February by an opposition group
On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Haitian government requested security and investigative assistance and that Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Homeland Security agents would be sent to the country as soon as possible.
"The United States remains engaged and in close consultations with our Haitian and international partners to support the Haitian people in the aftermath of the assassination of the president," Psaki said.