Preval declared winner in Haiti polls

"We have reached a solution to the problem," said Max Mathurin, president of the Provisional Electoral Council. "We feel a huge satisfaction at having liberated the country from a truly difficult situation."

Gerard Latortue, the prime minister, said: "We acknowledge the final decision of the electoral council and salute the election of Mr. Rene Preval as president of the republic of Haiti."

There was no reaction visible in the streets of the capital in the pre-dawn hours on Thursday.

The election last week had triggered massive street protests by backers of Preval, who said fraud was being carried out to deprive him of the 50% plus one vote needed for a first-round victory.

Preval, an agricultural scientist and former president, will replace Jean-Bertrand Aristide, his former mentor, who was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago.

Blank votes

With 90% of ballots counted, Preval had been just shy of the 50% margin needed for a first-round election win. But under the agreement, some of the blank votes - representing 4% of the estimated 2.2 million ballots cast - were subtracted from the total number of votes counted, giving Preval the majority, said Michel Brunache, chief of cabinet for Boniface Alexandre, the interim president.

"Preval wins with 51.15%," Brunache said after the meeting ended. "On 7 February, the people made a choice. It is a historic day."

A popularly elected government with a clear mandate is seen as crucial to avoiding a political and economic meltdown in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Gangs have gone on kidnapping sprees and factories have closed for lack of security.

The agreement capped a tense nine days since Haitians began turning out in droves to elect a new government for this impoverished Caribbean nation. They almost overwhelmed election workers by their numbers. When election returns were slow in coming, suspicion built that the vote count was being rigged.

At least one Preval supporter died in largely peaceful street protests. Preval claimed on Tuesday that "massive fraud or gross errors" had been committed and he had vowed to challenge the results if officials had insisted on holding a March run-off.

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