Haiti ex-coup leader gets life

A judge in Haiti has sentenced the former coup leader, Raoul Cedras, and more than 30 other senior army officers and paramilitaries to life imprisonment with hard labour for their role in the massacre of slum dwellers in 1994.

All the defendants - including Mr Cedras, who lives in exile in Panama - were tried in their absence.

Last week, 16 former soldiers and paramilitaries who appeared in court were given similar terms.

The dawn raid on the shantytown of Raboteau, near the city of Gonaives, was one of the most brutal episodes of Haiti's military rule.

Correspondents say that even though Mr Cedras is unlikely ever to go to jail, the fact that the trial went ahead at all was unprecedented for Haiti's fragile system of justice.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service