Haiti requests U.N. commission to probe president's killing

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - Haiti's government has requested help from the United Nations to conduct an international investigation into the killing last month of President Jovenel Moise, the country's embassy in the Dominican Republic said on Thursday.

Haiti requested the aid in a letter dated Aug. 3 addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the embassy in the neighboring country said in a statement. Specifically, Haiti called for an "international commission of inquiry" to be formed, along with a special court to prosecute the suspects.

The letter, signed by foreign minister Claude Joseph, said that Haiti considered the attack on Moise in his residence an international crime due to the alleged role of foreigners in planning, financing and carrying it out.

Haitian authorities have detained former Colombian soldiers allegedly hired by a Miami-based security firm on suspicion of carrying out the assassination of Moise.

Haiti also said the U.N. support should follow the model of its inquiry into a 2005 terrorist attack in Lebanon, which killed 22 people, including the prime minister.

(Reporting by Ezequiel Abiu Lopez, writing by Daina Beth Solomon, editing by Richard Pullin)