Preval declared Haiti president after vote deal
(AP\AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-17 09:24

Haitian President-elect Rene Preval talks with associates at his sister's home in Port-au-Prince February 16, 2006. Haiti declared Preval president on Thursday after authorities agreed to throw out 85,000 'blank' votes from last week's election. The Brazilian-brokered deal averted possible widespread violence after Preval had condemned 'massive fraud' in the Feb. 7 election and thousands of angry supporters had poured out of Haiti's teeming slums to demand he be given a first-round victory.[AFP]