Turkey detains suspect in Haitian president's murder

Turkish police have arrested a man identified as one of the prime suspects in the July murder of Haitian president Jovenel Moise.

The suspect, identified as Samir Handal, was arrested at Istanbul Airport on Monday on arriving from the US and transferred to jail, where he can be held for 40 days, Turkey's DHA private news agency reported on Tuesday.

Handal had Haitian, Jordanian and Palestinian passports at the time of his arrest, DHA said, though his age and nationality were not given.

Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph tweeted that he had phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to thank him for arresting "one of the people of greatest interest to the investigation" into Moise's death.

Moise was shot on 7 July at his home in Port-au-Prince and while dozens of people have been arrested, the identity of those who ordered the attack remains a mystery.

Last month, a former Colombian military officer wanted by Haitian authorities over the assassination was captured in Jamaica.

Three Colombians were killed by Haitian armed forces responding to the attack and 18 more were detained, alongside two US citizens of Haitian descent.

The assassination deepened an already dramatic crisis in Haiti, which is suffering from a lack of security, soaring gang violence and a spate of kidnappings.