AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 13, SPA -- Angry supporters of ex-President Rene Preval paralyzed the Haitian capital with burning tires and roadblocks on Monday as Preval fell further below the 50 percent needed to win the presidency and allegations of election manipulations mounted, Reuters reported. Radio reports said a young man was killed and several people were wounded in gunfire at a demonstration in Tabarre, north of the capital, where protesters were confronted by members of the 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti. On a street in the capital, a U.N. armored personnel carrier plowed through a barricade of rocks and debris as protesters hurled curses. The peaceful atmosphere following last Tuesday's vote began to unravel amid charges that election officials were tampering with results to prevent a first-round victory by Preval, a one-time ally of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted in a bloody revolt two years ago. Like Aristide, Preval is viewed as a champion of the Caribbean country's poor masses, most of whom live on $1 a day, but he is distrusted by the small and wealthy elite. "We are going to put one million people in the streets in the coming hours," said John Joel Joseph, a community leader in the Port-au-Prince slums. "The people won't take this," he added, referring to the latest vote count. Traffic ground to a halt, schools shut down and the United Nations told its employees to stay home as demonstrators piled wrecked cars and tree branches in the streets of Port-au-Prince after the latest results. With 90 percent of the vote counted, the Provisional Electoral Council reported Preval had 48.7 percent. At midday, thousands of protesters, dancing and chanting "Preval is President!" smashed through the gates of the Montana Hotel and swarmed through the complex where election officials have been briefing journalists on the disputed vote count. When initial results were announced several days ago, Preval held 61 percent of the vote, comfortably over the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff on March 19. Another ex-president, Leslie Manigat, had 11.84 percent and the main candidate for the business elite, industrialist Charles Baker, was at 7.9 percent. --more 22 10 Local Time 19 10 GMT
