The two former police officers who have spent the past ten days ensconced in the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince found their way to the border city of Jimani, where they were received by military and diplomatic personnel, and flown to Santo Domingo in helicopters. The pair, Gilbert Dragon and Ralph Phetiere, are said to be contemplating a request for asylum in the U.S. They are part of a group of police officials charged with attempting a coup d?etat against the government of President Rene Preval. However, they both dismissed the allegations as ?absurd.? Dragon told reporters that in order to mount a coup d?etat, guns, munitions, bazookas, and the like are necessary, yet the Haitian police have none of these things. ?We are professional police officers, not politicians,? said Phetiere, ?and since they could not control us politically, they are persecuting us.? Last week, seven other Haitian police officers who had been similarly accused, flew from Santo Domingo to asylum in Ecuador.
