Jean Claude Paul

Retired Col. Jean-Claude Paul, who had commanded Haiti's most feared army unit and had been indicted in Miami on drug charges, has died of a heart attack, Haitian radio reported. Paul, 49, died about 3 p.m. in his home in suburban La Boule, Radio Haiti-Inter said, without giving further details. However, a family friend said there was speculation that Paul was poisoned. Paul had been retired in September after a coup put Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril in power.

Police have arrested the former wife of retired Col. Jean-Claude Paul and two of his servants on suspicion of poisoning his pumpkin soup, radio stations reported Monday. Police Chief Georges Valcin said that shortly after Paul's death Sunday, officers arrested Mireille Delinois and the servants for the alleged poisoning, independent Radio Haiti-Inter said. No motive was disclosed.

Police have arrested the former wife of retired Col. Jean-Claude Paul and two of his servants on suspicion of poisoning his pumpkin soup, radio stations reported Monday. Police Chief Georges Valcin said that shortly after Paul's death Sunday, officers arrested Mireille Delinois and the servants for the alleged poisoning, independent Radio Haiti-Inter said. No motive was disclosed.

Retired Col. Jean-Claude Paul, who had commanded Haiti's most feared army unit and had been indicted in Miami on drug charges, has died of a heart attack, Haitian radio reported. Paul, 49, died about 3 p.m. in his home in suburban La Boule, Radio Haiti-Inter said, without giving further details. However, a family friend said there was speculation that Paul was poisoned. Paul had been retired in September after a coup put Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril in power.

In a surprising clash with the military commander who put him in office, Haitian President Leslie F. Manigat on Wednesday rescinded an order of army strongman Gen. Henri Namphy that would have stripped the country's toughest troop commander of his power. The move aroused fears of a possible civil war between rival army units until Namphy's army high command backed down from the confrontation late Wednesday.

Fears of an armed uprising by civilian thugs and graft-tainted officers deposed in Haiti's "sergeants' revolt" and hopes for clear and rapid steps toward long-thwarted democracy preoccupied both soldiers and political leaders Saturday as the officers and noncoms now running the country completed their first week of power in an atmosphere of unusual calm. The danger of a possible counterattack by loyalists of ousted Gen.

Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, the former Haitian strongman who was fired after clashing with the civilian president he helped put in power, was under house arrest Saturday at his home outside the capital, according to two of his close relatives. The relatives said that Namphy's house was surrounded by troops loyal to his chief army opponent, Col. Jean-Claude Paul, whose refusal Tuesday to obey the general's order transferring him to a powerless staff job touched off the current Haitian crisis.

Col. Jean-Claude Paul, wanted in the United States on drug charges and feared in Haiti as the army's most powerful troop commander, has been removed from his command and retired by the pro-democracy president of the new military government, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril. The controversial colonel, considered the only officer strong enough to unseat Avril's two-week-old government, accepted his retirement without protest, according to Haitian radio broadcasts Saturday.

Signs of disarray in the Haitian armed forces raised fears Sunday that supporters of Col. Jean-Claude Paul, the alleged drug lord who was ousted from his powerful troop command Friday, might stage a countercoup against the pro-democracy military government of Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril. "Everyone thinks Avril has control of all of this, but he doesn't," said a foreign military analyst with close army connections.

Warning that Haiti faces "the specter of anarchy and civil war," the Roman Catholic Church issued a strong appeal Sunday for compromise between the military-led government and opposition forces. A church statement said the country "is going through one of the gravest political crises of our times." An on-and-off general strike, which paralyzed the country for four days last week and triggered street disturbances, was scheduled to resume today.

Signs of disarray in the Haitian armed forces raised fears Sunday that supporters of Col. Jean-Claude Paul, the alleged drug lord who was ousted from his powerful troop command Friday, might stage a countercoup against the pro-democracy military government of Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril. "Everyone thinks Avril has control of all of this, but he doesn't," said a foreign military analyst with close army connections.

Col. Jean-Claude Paul, wanted in the United States on drug charges and feared in Haiti as the army's most powerful troop commander, has been removed from his command and retired by the pro-democracy president of the new military government, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril. The controversial colonel, considered the only officer strong enough to unseat Avril's two-week-old government, accepted his retirement without protest, according to Haitian radio broadcasts Saturday.

Fears of an armed uprising by civilian thugs and graft-tainted officers deposed in Haiti's "sergeants' revolt" and hopes for clear and rapid steps toward long-thwarted democracy preoccupied both soldiers and political leaders Saturday as the officers and noncoms now running the country completed their first week of power in an atmosphere of unusual calm. The danger of a possible counterattack by loyalists of ousted Gen.

A "sergeants' revolt" spread through Haiti's armed forces Tuesday as the country's newly installed military president appealed for calm to troops still celebrating their newly gained power. Noncommissioned officers and enlisted men ousted the commanders of army and police units in the capital and nearby districts, sometimes binding the officers and dumping them in front of the military headquarters building in Port-au-Prince.

Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, swiftly gripping power after escaping house arrest to stage a dramatic overnight coup, formed a solidly military government Monday, naming himself president. At the same time, civilian President Leslie F. Manigat, ousted after the Haitian strongman's surprise occupation of the presidential palace Sunday night, was secretly taken to Port-au-Prince airport and flown with his wife and children to the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Military strongman Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy broke dramatically out of house arrest and recaptured Haiti's presidential palace in a hail of gunfire late Sunday, unseating the civilian government of President Leslie F. Manigat. Early today, Namphy appeared on national television, an Uzi submachine gun in his right hand and surrounded by officers and men in the palace. "My friends, trust in me and trust in the army in my hands," he said.

A "sergeants' revolt" spread through Haiti's armed forces Tuesday as the country's newly installed military president appealed for calm to troops still celebrating their newly gained power. Noncommissioned officers and enlisted men ousted the commanders of army and police units in the capital and nearby districts, sometimes binding the officers and dumping them in front of the military headquarters building in Port-au-Prince.

Military strongman Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy broke dramatically out of house arrest and recaptured Haiti's presidential palace in a hail of gunfire late Sunday, unseating the civilian government of President Leslie F. Manigat. Early today, Namphy appeared on national television, an Uzi submachine gun in his right hand and surrounded by officers and men in the palace. "My friends, trust in me and trust in the army in my hands," he said.

Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, the former Haitian strongman who was fired after clashing with the civilian president he helped put in power, was under house arrest Saturday at his home outside the capital, according to two of his close relatives. The relatives said that Namphy's house was surrounded by troops loyal to his chief army opponent, Col. Jean-Claude Paul, whose refusal Tuesday to obey the general's order transferring him to a powerless staff job touched off the current Haitian crisis.

In a surprising clash with the military commander who put him in office, Haitian President Leslie F. Manigat on Wednesday rescinded an order of army strongman Gen. Henri Namphy that would have stripped the country's toughest troop commander of his power. The move aroused fears of a possible civil war between rival army units until Namphy's army high command backed down from the confrontation late Wednesday.