Haiti's interim prime minister Joseph says he will step down

Claude Joseph, who has nominally led Haiti as acting prime minister since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said in a Washington Post interview published on Monday that he has agreed to step down, handing power to a challenger backed by the international community.

The announcement appears to end a power struggle between Joseph and Ariel Henry, the 71-year old neurosurgeon who was appointed prime minister by Moise two days before the killing but has yet to be sworn in. Moise was fatally shot when assassins armed with assault rifles stormed his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince on July 7. The assassination has pitched the already troubled nation into chaos, coming amid a surge in gang violence that has displaced thousands of people and hampered economic activity in the poorest country in the Americas.

Joseph told the Washington Post that he and Henry had met privately over the past week, adding that he agreed to step down on Sunday "for the good of the nation." "Everyone who knows me knows that I am not interested in this battle, or in any kind of power grab," Joseph said.

"The president was a friend to me. I am just interested in seeing justice for him," Joseph added.