The United States protested Friday "in the strongest possible terms" the arrest of a Haitian man granted refugee status but stopped before boarding a flight at the Port-au-Prince airport.
The man was arrested by Haitian authorities on the grounds of being a military deserter, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The man was not immediately identified, but news reports and witnesses in Haiti said the man was a former military officer.One witness in the airport said soldiers recognized and arrested the man Thursday while he was waiting to board his flight to the United States.
"We are shocked at the arrest, which we hope and expect will be speedily rectified," Boucher said.
Thousands of Haitians have sought political asylum in the United States since the overthrow of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a bloody coup 18 months ago.