据一名高级政府官员称，美国不会向海地派遣部队，此前这个加勒比国家的政府在本周早些时候总统被暗杀后，要求帮助稳定该国，并保护石油储备、港口和机场等关键基础设施。
美国已经同意派遣联邦调查局和国土安全部的高级官员前往海地白宫周五宣布，为协助政府调查总统约韦内尔·莫伊塞遇刺案。
美国军队的部署将标志着美国参与的重大升级。
这位官员说:“目前没有向海地派遣美国军事援助的计划。
在美国联邦调查局和DHS方面承诺提供援助之前，海地当局逮捕了17名涉嫌谋杀国家元首的男子，其中包括两名美国公民。这起令人震惊的谋杀有可能使海地在相互争夺权力的情况下进一步陷入混乱。
困扰这个加勒比国家的政治和安全危机只有冠状病毒大流行。据一位知情人士透露，海地是世界上少数几个尚未分发一剂新冠肺炎疫苗的国家之一，由于极度不安全，这一计划将再次推迟。
据临时总理克劳德·约瑟夫办公室称，17名嫌疑人已被拘留，包括两名美国人和15名哥伦比亚人。
据海地官员称，另外四名嫌疑人在周三晚间的枪战中被警方击毙。据美联社报道，海地国家警察局长莱昂·查尔斯周四表示，另有8名嫌疑人在逃。
根据海地政府专员贝德-福特·克劳德的说法，莫伊塞的四名安全人员也被通缉审问，其中包括他的安全部门负责人。
目前还不清楚袭击者是如何进入私人总统官邸的。据海地驻美国大使博奇特·埃德蒙说，该组织称他们是美国缉毒署的特工，海地和美国政府都否认了这一说法。这可能让他们通过了一些安全检查，尽管埃德蒙告诉美国广播公司新闻，很明显，他称之为“国际雇佣军”的组织也有“一些内部帮助”。
据海地选举部长马蒂亚斯·皮埃尔(Mathias Pierre)称，其中一名被拘留的美国人已被确认为35岁的詹姆斯·索兰格斯，他拒绝透露另一名美国人的姓名。
在他的慈善网站上，佛罗里达州居民索兰格斯称自己是一名“认证外交代表”，并表示他以前在加拿大驻海地大使馆担任保镖——美国广播公司新闻无法独立核实这一说法。
美国国务院副发言人贾利娜·波特(Jalina Porter)周五表示:“我们当然知道这两名在海地的美国公民被捕的消息，并将继续密切关注事态发展。”出于“隐私考虑”，她拒绝进一步置评，并将问题提交给领导调查的海地当局。
根据美国广播公司新闻获得的埃德蒙德给国务卿安东尼·布林肯的一封信，海地政府要求联邦调查局提供援助，称联邦调查局“可以在伸张正义方面发挥关键作用”，并呼吁对“所有对暗杀总统负有直接责任或协助和教唆的肇事者”进行制裁。
此外，据皮埃尔说，政府已经要求美国军队，尽管不清楚这一要求是否是通过正式渠道提出的。美国国务院在周五下午的新闻发布会上拒绝回答关于皮埃尔言论的问题。
美国还被要求帮助平息政治动荡，特别是在相互争夺权力的情况下，以及街头再次爆发帮派暴力的威胁。
海地的继承路线已经被其政治动荡所模糊。政治对手辩称，莫伊塞的五年任期于今年2月结束，而他表示，任期将于2022年2月结束，也就是他2017年就职五年后——这一说法得到了美国和联合国的支持。
但是谁是负责人就更令人困惑了，因为莫伊塞在遇刺前几天选择了外科医生、前部长阿里埃勒·亨利作为他的新临时总理。虽然亨利告诉一些当地媒体，他是合法的领导人，但美国支持约瑟夫的合法性主张。
因为“克劳德·约瑟夫是这个职位的现任者...我们继续以这种身份与克劳德·约瑟夫合作，”美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯(Ned Price)周四表示，并补充说，美国官员一直在与他和亨利保持联系，敦促保持冷静。
约瑟夫和布林肯周三晚上通了电话，这是支持的又一次增加，美国支持他的稳定信息以及他对自由公正选举和全国对话的呼吁。
将权力移交给约瑟夫不符合海地宪法，宪法规定总统应由最高法院院长取代，最高法院院长由国民议会“暂时赋予总统职责”。但就在两周前，该国首席大法官从新冠肺炎去世，自2019年10月该国未能举行立法选举以来，立法机构自2020年1月以来一直被解散。
国民议会和总统选举已经定于9月下旬举行，但许多批评人士和政治反对派领导人表示，该国无法自由或公平地举行选举。目前还不清楚约瑟夫是否会推动他们前进，甚至能够前进，但国务院周四表示，这些选举应该按计划进行。
举办这些比赛的一个主要障碍是新冠肺炎大流行，它继续在海地肆虐。上个月的病例与一年前一样多，该国还没有收到来自COVAX的任何剂量，这是一个向中低收入国家提供疫苗的国际项目。
一位熟悉疫苗运输情况的消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，联合国儿童基金会正准备最早于本周向海地运送疫苗，但由于暗杀和随后的动荡，这种可能性似乎不再存在。
联合国儿童基金会(UNICEF)周五在一份声明中表示:“不断上升的帮派犯罪和日益加剧的不安全局势阻碍了太子港郊区的人道主义行动，”并补充称，该组织“已加大努力，使用更复杂的物流，并考虑替代路线，以更有效地向有需要的儿童提供援助。”
美国驻海地大使米歇尔·西森(Michele Sison)昨天得以从华盛顿返回首都，她在那里参加了先前安排的会议，这或许表明大使馆没有撤离美国人员的计划。普莱斯拒绝就那里的安全问题置评，只是说大使馆正在“不断评估”局势，并将在周一之前对公众关闭。
US official: No plans to send troops to Haiti after government request
The U.S. will not be sending troops to Haiti, according to a senior administration official, after the Caribbean nation's government requested help to stabilize the country and secure critical infrastructure like oil reserves and its port and airport in the wake of the assassination of its president earlier this week.
The U.S. has agreed to send senior officials from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security toHaitito assist the government's investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, the White House announced Friday.
The deployment of U.S. forces would have marked a major escalation of U.S. involvement.
"There are currently no plans to send U.S. military assistance to Haiti," the official said.
The pledge for FBI and DHS assistance comes after two U.S. citizens were among the 17 men arrested by Haitian authorities for the head of state's shocking murder, which threatens to plunge Haiti further into chaos amid competing claims to power.
The political and security crises afflicting the Caribbean country are rivaled only by thecoronavirus pandemic. Haiti is one of only a handful of countries in the world that has yet to distribute a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and that will once again be delayed because of the deep insecurity, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Seventeen suspects have been detained, according to interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph's office, including two Americans and 15 Colombians.
Four other suspects were killed by police in a shootout late Wednesday, according to Haitian officials. Leon Charles, chief of Haiti's National Police, said Thursday that eight other suspects were on the run, according to The Associated Press.
Four members of Moise's security detail are also wanted for questioning, according to Haitian government commissioner Bed-Ford Claude, including the head of his security detail.
It's unclear how the assailants were able to access the private presidential residence. The group said they were agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to Haitian Ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond, a claim that the Haitian and U.S. governments have denied. It may have gotten them past some security, although Edmond told ABC News it's "obvious" that the group of "international mercenaries," as he called them, had "some internal help," too.
One of the detained Americans has been identified as 35-year old James Solanges, according to Mathias Pierre, Haiti's elections minister, who declined to name the other American.
On a website for his charity, Solanges, a Florida resident, described himself as a "certified diplomatic agent" and said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti -- claims that ABC News could not independently verify.
"We are certainly aware of the arrest of the two U.S. citizens who are in Haiti and continue to closely monitor the situation," State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said Friday, declining to comment further because of "privacy considerations" and referring questions to Haitian authorities leading the investigation.
The Haitian government had requested assistance from the FBI, saying it "can play a critical role in rendering justice," and called for sanctions on "all perpetrators who are directly responsible or aided and abetted in the execution of the assassination of the President," according to a letter from Edmond to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that was obtained by ABC News.
In addition, the government had asked for U.S. troops, according to Pierre, although it's unclear whether that request has been made through formal channels. The State Department declined to address a question about Pierre's comments during a press briefing Friday afternoon.
The U.S. is also being called upon to help calm the political turmoil, especially amid competing claims to power and the threat of gang violence erupting again on the streets.
Haiti's line of succession had already been blurred by its political turmoil. Political opponents argued Moise's five-year term ended in February, while he said the term ended in February 2022, five years after his 2017 inauguration -- a claim backed by the U.S. and United Nations.
But who is in charge is further confused because Moise selected Ariel Henry, a surgeon and former minister, to serve as his new interim prime minister just days before his assassination. While Henry has told some local media outlets that he is the rightful leader, the U.S. is backing Joseph in his claim of legitimacy.
Because "Claude Joseph was the incumbent in the position ... we continue to work with Claude Joseph as such," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday, adding that U.S. officials have been in touch with him and Henry and urging calm.
Joseph and Blinken spoke by phone Wednesday night -- another boost of support -- and the U.S. has backed his messages of stability and his calls for free and fair elections and national dialogue.
The transfer of power to Joseph is not in line with Haiti's constitution, which says the president should be replaced by the head of the Supreme Court who is "invested temporarily with the duties of the president" by the National Assembly. But the country's chief justice died from COVID-19 just two weeks ago, and the legislature has been disbanded since January 2020 after the country failed to hold legislative elections in October 2019.
Elections for the National Assembly and president have already been scheduled for late September, but many critics and political opposition leaders have said the country is not in position to hold them freely or fairly. It's unclear if Joseph will push to move ahead with them, or even be able to, but the State Department said Thursday those elections should go ahead as planned.
One major hurdle to holding those contests is the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to rage in Haiti. Cases last month were as high as they were one year prior, and the country has yet to receive any doses from COVAX, the international program to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
UNICEF was preparing to ship vaccines to Haiti as soon as this week, but because of the assassination and ensuing turmoil that no longer looks likely, a source familiar with the shipments told ABC News.
"Rising gang criminality and increased insecurity has hindered humanitarian operations in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince," UNICEF said in a statement Friday, adding it has "stepped up its efforts to use more sophisticated logistics and consider alternative routes to bring assistance more effectively to children in need."
U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison was able to return to the capital yesterday from Washington, where she was attending previously scheduled meetings -- a sign, perhaps, that the embassy has no plans to evacuate American personnel. Price declined to comment on security there, except to say the embassy is "constantly evaluating" the situation and would remain closed to the public through Monday.
