US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1515

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 001515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/DSERCC, WHA/EX 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: ASEC, PTER, Security Situation 
SUBJECT: FRENCH COUNSUL TO HAITI KILLED IN CARJACKING 
 
Classified By: Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Douglas Griffiths 
for reason 1.4(c) 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary: On the evening of 05/31/2005 (precise 
time unknown), Pierre Henri-Mourral, French Honorary Consul 
to Haiti based in Cape Haitian, was shot and killed by 
unknown assailants.  Henri-Morrual was returning to Cape 
Haitian, where he owns a prominent hotel, from a visit to 
Port au Prince.  Subject was killed while driving a new 
vehicle with temporary license plates; although the 
occurrence of the attack is disturbing, no known information 
suggests it was a planned, deliberate attack indicative of a 
new threat against foreign or diplomatic personnel.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (C/NF)  Post's Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) spoke with 
his counterpart at the French Embassy to Haiti on 06/01/2005. 
 The French DCM related that the French Consul was driving a 
new car along Route National One, a road known for violence, 
when he was attacked.  He stated the victim was dragged from 
the car and shot three times from the rear after his vehicle 
was stopped due to gunfire.  The French DCM described the 
attack as "brutal."  He further stated that Henri-Morrual was 
a French national who had lived in Haiti for approximately 
twenty years.  The attackers escaped with the victim's 
vehicle. 
 
3.  (C)  Source, a security professional working for an 
international organization in Port au Prince with close ties 
to the French Embassy, reports that Morrual has shot three 
times in the back of his head.  He was then taken to a local 
hospital where surgeons recovered three heavily fragmented 
bullets, before the patient died.  This source has provided 
credible information in the past. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Multiple sources report that Morrual was driving a 
new vehicle with "Demonstration" license plates when he was 
attacked.  (NOTE: "Demonstration" license plates are issued 
to newly purchased and leased vehicles.  END NOTE)  Post has 
noted on multiple occasions the dangers of traveling on this 
road.  The Embassy continues to maintain travel restrictions 
in this area and to monitor additional information as it 
develops. 
FOLEY