A rebel leader who helped oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
has returned to Haiti after more than a month in a Florida detention
center and says he and fellow rebels will not disarm. Butteur Metayer,
a 34-year-old legal U.S. resident alien, was detained by Customs and
Border Protection agents on November 28 after he arrived at Miami
International Airport from Haiti. He was deported on Saturday.
Immigration officials have not released details on the case, but
Metayer told family members he was held because he overstayed his visit
to Haiti. He told his cousin, Jacques Magene, that agents said Metayer
had been out of the United States for about six months and 14 days --
two weeks longer than allowed by law. Metayer led a gang known as the
Cannibal Army, which turned on Aristide after gang leader Amiot
Metayer, Butteur's brother, was assassinated in 2003. Butteur Metayer
had accused the government of silencing his brother to prevent him from
giving damaging information about Aristide, who has denied any
involvement with the gang. Aristide left the country for exile in
Africa on February 29. [more]
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