President had named a new PM days before his assassination, but he has yet to be sworn in

Claude Joseph, who has nominally led Haiti as acting prime minister since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, 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 Moïse two days before the killing, but has yet to be sworn in.

Moïse 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" and is willing to transfer power "as quickly as possible."

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"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."

Ambassador group urged Henry to form government

Haiti, a country of about 11 million people, has struggled to achieve stability since the fall of the Duvalier dynastic  dictatorship in 1986, and has grappled with a series of coups and foreign interventions.

On Saturday, the important Core Group of international ambassadors and representatives urged "the formation of a consensual and inclusive government."

"To this end, we strongly encourage the designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry to continue the mission entrusted to him to form such a government," the group said.

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