Haitians adjusting to the sudden return of one exiled ex-president could soon have another on their hands.

THE ballot was as crowded as the earthquake-ravaged capital itself, and a collapsed presidential palace the prize.

A senior US senator sharply criticised Haiti's president, portraying him as an ineffectual leader who was hindering recovery from January's devastating earthquake.

Police fired tear gas outside the ruins of Haiti’s national palace to control 2,000 demonstrators calling for President Rene Preval’s resignation in the largest political protest since the January 12 earthquake.

DRUMBEATS called the faithful to a Sunday Mass praising God amid a scene resembling the Apocalypse – a collapsed cathedral in a city cloaked with the smell of death, where aid is slow to reach survivors and rescue crews battle to pry anever-smaller number of the living from the ruins.

A surveillance plane assigned to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti crashed into a mountain, killing all 11 military personnel on board, the United Nations said.

The UN will name Bill Clinton its special envoy to Haiti, his spokesman said, in a move that could capitalise on the former US president’s years of involvement with the impoverished nation to burnish the international body’s image there.

Rescue crews working under the glare of floodlights dug through the rubble of a collapsed school in Haiti early today in a frantic search for students who may still be trapped in a disaster that has already killed at least 47 people.

Haiti’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new cabinet that includes members of six political parties, a strong show of support for President Rene Preval as he steers the impoverished nation toward peace and stability.

HAITIANS celebrated in the streets yesterday as word quickly spread that Rene Preval will be Haiti’s next president.

UN peacekeepers opened fire yesterday on Haitians protesting election results, killing at least one and wounding four, witnesses said as flaming roadblocks paralysed the capital.

Haitians voted in overwhelming numbers in an election aimed at restoring democracy in the impoverished nation, swamping officials who struggled to cope with the large turnout.

UN TROOPS beefed up patrols yesterday and poll workers mobilised trucks and even mules to carry ballots to remote regions as Haiti readied itself for an election that aims to restore a shaky democracy in this impoverished country.

Pregnant Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt brought a rare dose of Hollywood glamour to the beleaguered Caribbean nation of Haiti.

Fourteen children kidnapped at gunpoint along with their bus driver on their way to school have been released unharmed, but an American missionary abducted in a separate incident remained in captivity, Haitian police said today.

The presence of United Nations peacekeepers for more than a year has failed to curb widespread abuses and political violence in Haiti, leaving a volatile climate for upcoming elections, Amnesty International has declared.

THE US yesterday called for new ways to support “fragile” democracies in the Western Hemisphere but was immediately accused by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez of seeking to impose a “global dictatorship.”

Gunmen killed the honorary French consul to the northern city of Cap-Haitien while he was driving in Haiti’s capital, amid growing insecurity in the hemisphere’s poorest country, the French Embassy said today.

Supporters of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide called for a third day of demonstrations to demand his return today and hurled rocks at passing cars on streets littered with debris and overturned vehicles in the capital Port-au-Prince.

At least 622 people have now been killed by Tropical Storm Jeanne in Haiti, and officials expect to find many more bodies.

Tropical Storm Jeanne brought raging floodwaters to Haiti, killing at least 90 people and leaving dozens of Haitian families huddled on rooftops as the storm pushed further out into the open seas, officials said.

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived in South Africa where he will be allowed to live in exile until he can safely return to Haiti.

IVORY Coast President Laurent Gbagbo insisted the opposition rejoin the country’s unity government after violent clashes claimed at least 25 lives and brought the peace process to the brink of collapse.

South Africa will be the permanent home of asylum for Haiti’s ousted Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Jamaican officials said today.

Haitian police arrested supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, launching the crackdown as the ousted leader flew back to the Caribbean on a private jet from exile in Africa.

Ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife will travel to Jamaica next week, returning to the Caribbean from exile in Africa less than three weeks after he fled, Jamaica’s prime minister says.

Gerard Latortue, the man chosen to lead Haiti out of political and social turmoil, arrived in Port-au-Prince to begin the arduous task of building a transitional government and eventually organising elections.

A US-backed advisory council picked Gerard Latortue, a former UN official and business consultant as Haiti’s new prime minister, a step toward forming a transitional government and organising elections in the troubled nation.

Haiti’s interim president was solemnly sworn in as ousted leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide restated his claim from his faraway African asylum to be the country’s true leader.

US marines shot and killed one of the gunmen who fired at a huge demonstration of protesters celebrating the flight from Haiti of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has called on his countrymen to peacefully resist the “unacceptable occupation” of Haiti and said he remained the nation’s president.

The US sent combat-ready Marines into Haiti’s capital and messages to rebel leader Guy Philippe, prompting him to announce his men would lay down their arms, signalling an end to a rebellion that claimed at least 130 lives.

Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide said that he was “forced to leave” the Caribbean country by US military forces who said they would “start shooting and killing” if he refused.

DEPOSED Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide spoke on Central African Republic state radio soon after landing in the capital, Bangui.

Once hailed as a champion of democracy in a Caribbean country scarred by decades of dictatorships, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced to resign by an armed revolt and international pressure yesterday.

Faced with an armed rebellion and pressured by the US and France, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left his troubled Caribbean country yesterday, saying he wanted to avert bloodshed.

Rebels were within 25 miles of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince today, as militants loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide torched barricades, hijacked cars and looted the city’s only operating hospital.

Rebels who have launched a bloody uprising took control of another town today, closing in on the capital as Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appealed for foreign peacekeepers and the country lurched toward chaos.

Foreigners fled Haiti today, some guarded by US marines, as looting erupted in the capital Port-au-Prince.

An opposition coalition, insisting that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resign, rejected a US-backed peace plan to avert all-out civil war as Haiti’s leader urgently appealed to the world for help.

THE prime minister of Haiti last night appealed for international help, saying the Caribbean country is in the throes of a coup d'état.

HAITI'S second-largest city remained without power after a food depot was looted and torched in the latest troubles to hit the stricken Caribbean republic.

Celebrating their national flag’s creation 200 years ago, thousands of cheering Haitians waved the red and blue banner as their president urged them to stand together against poverty.

Three Haitian policemen have been killed after six camouflaged men stormed a police academy and a jail, demanding loyalty to the country's disbanded army.