Ecuadorean authorities say an arrest warrant has been issued for former President Jamil Mahuad for allegedly misappropriating public funds during the country's late 1990s banking crisis. Interior Minister Jose Serrano announced Tuesday via Twitter that the international police agency Interpol had issued an alert about the warrant. Serrano did not offer any details about Mahuad's alleged crime or say when the warrant was issued, AP reported. Mahuad fled a 2000 coup and settled in the United States. During a severe 1999 financial crisis he declared a bank holiday, freezing accounts and replacing the Ecuadorean sucre with the U.S. dollar. Half of Ecuador's 42 banks shut down during the crisis. A telephone message left at a Massachusetts phone number registered in Mahuad's name was not immediately returned. -- SPA 21:49 LOCAL TIME 18:49 GMT تغريد
