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Haitian justice minister Henry Marge Dorleans accuses U.S. of seeking to undermine sovereignty

Haitian Justice Minister Henry Marge Dorleans said on Tuesday that a U.S. embassy advert offering rewards for information about heavy weapons in private hands in the island nation, was a deliberate move to undermine Haitian sovereignty.

"This is an attempt to bring Haiti's justice system under the authority of the United States," Henry Marge Dorleans was quoted as saying by the daily newspaper Caribbean Net News, according to reports reaching here on Tuesday.

"If you have any information about people hiding heavy weapons, please contact the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince. Calls will be treated as confidential and will be handsomely rewarded," said the U.S. embassy advertisement, currently running on Haitian radio in the local Creole language.

The incident came as the country's National Commission is trying to recover an estimated 200,000 weapons, which are scattered all over the place and believed to be in private hands. The government body, along with seven non-governmental organizations, is negotiating with street gangs in Haiti's roughest neighborhoods.

"All attempts to deliver the apparatus of justice into the hands of foreigners deserves an urgent intervention from our nation's authorities," said Joseph Lambert, president of Haiti's Senate.

The U.S. embassy sources have formally denied any attempt to undermine Haiti's sovereignty.