PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An aide to Haiti’s prime minister has been slain in a drive-by shooting by two masked men on a motorcycle, the government said Monday.
Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said Honorat was shot twice outside his home when the men drove by. He died at the scene.
Detectives opened an investigation and collected bullet casings but have not publicly mentioned a motive.
Honorat also currently worked as the editor-in- chief for the weekly newspaper Haiti Progres and was secretary general of the Popular National Party that opposed the regime of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and his father Francois.
The slayings of government officials often occur during electoral seasons, but have been rare of late.
Legislative elections scheduled for late 2011 were delayed when Haitian authorities couldn’t agree on how to form an electoral council to oversee the vote. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti and other international organisations have increased pressure on the government to hold legislative elections before year’s end.
The office of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said in a statement that Georges Henry Honorat was killed Saturday evening at his house in the Delmas district in Port-au-Prince. He was 55.
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Detectives opened an investigation and collected bullet casings but have not publicly mentioned a motive.
Honorat also currently worked as the editor-in- chief for the weekly newspaper Haiti Progres and was secretary general of the Popular National Party that opposed the regime of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and his father Francois.
The slayings of government officials often occur during electoral seasons, but have been rare of late.
Legislative elections scheduled for late 2011 were delayed when Haitian authorities couldn’t agree on how to form an electoral council to oversee the vote. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti and other international organisations have increased pressure on the government to hold legislative elections before year’s end.