By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian authorities will question former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and may prosecute him for stealing from the treasury during his rule, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
"He will be questioned and he will remain at the disposal of the judicial system," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "They will determine whether to prosecute him," he added.
Earlier a Haitian judge and a squad of police entered the Port-au-Prince hotel where Duvalier, 59, has been staying since his surprise return home on Sunday from 25 years in exile in France. He fled Haiti in 1986 to escape a popular uprising.
He returned to a country gripped by political uncertainty after an inconclusive election and still struggling with the devastation of the earthquake which devastated much of the capital a year ago.
The hotel where Duvalier was staying, in the Haitian capital's Petionville suburb, was sealed off by armed Haitian police, some wearing masks. A vehicle for transporting detainees was drawn up to the door of the hotel.
Human rights groups and critics are demanding that the Haitian government arrest and prosecute Duvalier for the killing and torture of thousands of opponents they say occurred during his 15-year rule in the poor Caribbean state starting in 1971.
The government official said a previous judicial complaint against Duvalier, for "money stolen from the treasury", had been reactivated. He added he believed a number of other complaints from private individuals, for other alleged "crimes", were also being prepared.
(Additional reporting by Allyn Gaestel; Writing by Pascal Fletcher, Editing by David Storey)
