The Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince has received requests for political asylum from two police officers implicated in the recent, unsuccessful coup d?etat against the government of President Rene Preval. The pair has taken temporary refuge in the embassy awaiting the official governmental response. This brings to nine, the total number of Haitian police officers who have petitioned for asylum in the DR. The other seven, who crossed the border at Dajabon last week, are currently ?in protective custody? at the Armed Services Ministry in Santo Domingo. President Hipolito Mejia and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugo Tolentino Dipp, visited with the seven yesterday, following which Mejia stated that the seven entered the country legally with Dominican visas, and as such have freedom of movement within the country. The Haitian government has already petitioned for the return of the seven, under term of a long-standing mutual repatriation treaty. Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister, Fritz Longchamp, will arrive in Santo Domingo today to press the case for his government. Mejia and Tolentino Dipp are considering the Dominican response.
