Pope sends condolences after Moise murder
POPE Francis sent his condolences to Haiti following what he said was the “heinous assassination” of President Jovenal Moise.
Francis, who is recovering at a Rome hospital from intestinal surgery, condemned “all forms of violence as a means of resolving crises and conflicts”, according to a telegram signed by the Vatican secretary of state.
The message said Francis was praying for the Haitian people and for Martine Moise, the wife of the murdered president, who also was critically injured in the Wednesday attack at their home.
Authorities said that during the gun battle, police killed four suspects, detained two others and freed three officers being held hostage.
The country’s prime minister Claude Joseph assumed leadership of Haiti and decreed a two-week state of siege following
Mr Moise’s killing, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere’s highest poverty, violence and political instability.
Francis said in the telegram that he “wishes for the dear Haitian people a future of fraternal harmony”.