PORT-AU-PRINCE - Former Haitian President Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who returned from France to the country on Sunday, was detained on Tuesday, police said.

Former Haitian President Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier (C) leaves the civil court house with his wife Veronique Roy in Port-au-Prince January 18, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

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"Baby Doc", who was deposed in 1986 after popular uprisings, governed Haiti for 15 years with an iron fist.

He was detained by police agents in the Hotel Karibe, where he was staying with 15 of his inner circle, including security guards.

The return was surprising due to the situation the country is going through: the political crisis, the consequences of the January 2010 earthquake and the cholera epidemic that started in October and has killed more than 4,000.