Taiwan says 11 arrested at its Haiti embassy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s foreign ministry says Haitian police have arrested 11 armed suspects who tried to break into the its embassy in Port-au-Prince. It gave no details of the suspects’ identities or a reason for the break-in.

“As for whether the suspects were involved in the assassination of the President of Haiti, that will need to be investigated by the Haitian police,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou told the Associated Press in Taipei.

Officials said police were alerted by embassy security guards while Taiwanese diplomats were working from home. The ministry said some doors and windows were broken but there was no other damage to the embassy.

Haiti is one of a handful of countries worldwide that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of the rival mainland Chinese government in Beijing.

Seventeen suspects have been detained so far in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and Haitian authorities say two are believed to hold dual U.S.-Haitian citizenship and Colombia’s government says at least six are former members of its army.

Léon Charles, chief of Haiti’s National Police, said Thursday night that 15 of the detainees were from Colombia.