The Fiscal General, Francisco Dall'Anese, said a court date will be fixed next week which Rodriguez will be required to show up for.

The detention order would come into force once Rodriguez' resignation takes effect Oct. 15, the day that he steps down as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Dall'Anese was clear to point out that the order was not an arrest warrant, rather, an insurance in case Rodríguez decides not to return to Costa Rica.

"An international detention order has been filed ... and it was delivered to the United States embassy," said Dall'Anese.

While no formal charges have yet been filed, Dall'Anese said the investigation involves malfeasance, corruption and illegal enrichment, crimes that would carry prison sentences of two to six years.

The international warrant is ensure that Rodríguez comes to Costa Rica when he officially steps down at the OAS next week. The resignation will take effect Oct. 15.

The order was issued by a judge of the Segundo Circuito de San José court shortly before 6:00pm, several hours after the announcement by Rodríguez to the OAS assembly.

President Abel Pacheco praised Rodriguez's resignation from the top OAS post, saying that it was a "brave thing to do".

Rodriguez, tendered his resignation Friday afternoon at 1:00pm Costa Rica time (3:00pm Washington time).

Rodríguez in a four page letter said he had two options: one, to stay at his post and defend his initiatives or two, to resign to devote his time to defend himself against the accusations in Costa Rica.

Rodríguez was clear to point out that his resignation was not an admission of guilt or any wrong doing. He said in his letter that he had the support of many of the OAS states, however, it is best he step down.

Rodríguez could have stayed at this post and kept his immunity as long as he did not set foot on Costa Rican soil, as Costa Rican authorities had declared earlier in the day that the OAS immunity would not keep Rodriguez from being questioned once he was in Costa Rica.

President Abel Pacheco, on live television minutes before the letter of resignation was read, said that he hoped Rodríguez would do the right thing and resign and come to Costa Rica and face the accusations.

The president was asked if he had had any communications with Rodríguez, told reporters that other than the letter he send on Monday, he had not communicated with the former president and neither did he see the need.

Pacheco told reporters that "Don Miguel needs to talk to the judges, and not him".

Following the announcement Pacheco told reporters, "I am totally satisfied. He should have done it before because he is being accused of very serious crimes and he has caused us (Costa Rica) enough shame."

Pacheco said "the evidence is very serious, according to what the prosecution is investigating," though he did not specify.

"Instead of weakening the OAS, this will strengthen it, given that it was resolved quickly," Panama's Foreign Ministry said in a press statement.

"Whether Rodríguez is guilty or not is up to Costa Rica's judicial system to decide," the statement continued. "The important thing is for the OAS not to be in the middle of that discussion."

Speaking at a news conference before Rodriguez's resignation, El Salvador's president Tony Saca said he had contacted all the region's leaders to propose an immediate meeting to seek a replacement candidate. Rodríguez was the first Central American to head the OAS.

"Central America should seek a single candidate and try to maintain this important post for the region."

Francisco Dall'Anese will meet next week with aides to determine when to summon Miguel Angel Rodríguez.  "The idea is to define the date and the hour," said Fabian Barrantes, an aid to Dall'Anese.

Rodríguez is been accused of receiving a bribe in connection with the awarding of a $149 million contract to the French telephone company Alcatel in 2001 for 400.000 GSM cellular telephone lines.

Rodríguez was sworn in for his five-year term only two weeks ago, and now he is the first secretary general in the organization's 115-year history to resign because of corruption charges. In the June OAS meeting at which Rodríguez was selected, the organization declared that fighting corruption would be a priority.

American Luigi Einaudi, a former State Department official and the second-ranking official in the OAS, will replace Rodriguez until the organization meets again to select another candidate.

Costa Rica has been something of a model of Latin American stability and prosperity and is not known as a place where corruption is rampant. Having a former president selected to the OAS post was seen as a major coup and a sign of Costa Rica's emergence on the international scene. Eleven heads of state and government attended Rodriguez's Sept. 23 swearing-in ceremony at OAS headquarters here.

When allegations against Rodriguez became public soon after his installation, Pacheco and most of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly asked the former president to resign.

"This was an unavoidable exit," said Rodolfo Gil, Argentina's permanent representative to the OAS and one of the ambassadors who had been most outspoken against Rodriguez. "We believe that Rodriguez did what he had to do, which was to resign and open the road to a new institutional path where the secretary general is not tainted by suspicions of corruption.

"There was no benefit of the doubt possible. In politics you have to be like Caesar's wife."