Police suspect ex-Haiti official ordered Moise hit

A former Haitian justice ministry official may have ordered the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, a Colombian police chief said on Friday.

Joseph Felix Badio, who worked in Haiti's anti-corruption unit, allegedly ordered two former Colombian soldiers initially contacted for security services to kill Moise instead, according to Colombian general Jorge Vargas.

Authorities said one of the soldiers has been killed, and Haiti police have captured the other.

It was not immediately possible to reach Badio for comment, and his whereabouts are unclear.

Vargas said Badio's order came three days before Moise was found shot dead at his residence earlier this month, but not provide any source or proof of this information.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s prime minister Claude Joseph on Friday called Moise's assassination "a big plot" involving “a lot of people”, and vowed to move the investigation forward.

Haitian police have also identified former Haitian Senator John Joel Joseph as a suspect, and arrested the head of palace security at Moise’s residence.

The group of assassins included two Haitian Americans and 26 Colombians, among which 18 were captured, three were killed and five are still on the run.

Colombian president Ivan Duque said many entered the country as bodyguards.

Colombia’s vice president Lucia Ramirez said on Friday that the country will send a consular mission to Haiti to ensure the detained Colombians' rights are respected, and to repatriate the remains of the deceased.

Moise’s funeral is expected to be held next week.