Haiti recount in disarray

HAITI : Haiti's post-election crisis deepened on Saturday as monitor groups joined the main opposition candidates in dismissing a planned recount intended to stave off more deadly unrest.

Conservative US politician Sarah Palin, undeterred by days of politically-charged rioting that killed at least five people, began a weekend visit with American evangelical group Samaritan's Purse.

The potential 2012 presidential candidate comforted child cholera victims at a clinic and toured a camp where the group provides shelter for victims of the January quake, which killed 250,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless.

"I've really enjoyed meeting this community," Palin said. "They are so full of joy. We are so fortunate in America and we are responsible for helping those less fortunate. Samaritan's Purse is still here doing the tough work."

Her arrival coincided with the first normalcy in Haiti since President Rene Preval's handpicked protege made it through to a second round run-off in flawed elections, pipping a popular opposition candidate by less than 7,000 votes.

Markets and banks opened for business for the first time since the violence erupted after Tuesday's announcement of presidential election results that opposition candidates say were rigged by Preval and the ruling Unity party.

The streets of the capital, eerily bare on Friday as putrid tire smoke lingered in the air, were once again teeming with people Saturday, many of them stocking up on supermarket goods, fearful the period of calm may not last long.

The unrest prompted the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to announce plans to add up all the tally sheets in the presence of the three main candidates.

The singer-turned-politician called for "the cancellation of tally sheets from polling stations that were sacked, vandalised, the object of massive and scandalous fraud.

AFP