Haiti now appears to be on the brink of the major social unrest with more than one million people are still homeless after the January quake and life is a daily battle for survival amid a deadly cholera outbreak that has claimed n
Tensions rise in the cholera-gripped Haiti as a losing candidate in the disputed presidential elections considers the recount as a trap with five people have been killed in protests over the polls.
The election commission has bowed to pressure from the growing unrest and international displeasure over the election results and announced it will recount the tally sheets in the presence of the three main candidates.
But the biggest loser in the elections, singer-turned-politician Michel Martelly -- who missed out on a place in the second round by less than 7,000 votes -- ruled out his participation in a recount, dismissing it as "a trap."
Martelly is convinced President Rene Preval and his ruling Unity party candidate Jude Celestin rigged the November 28 presidential polls in secret back-room meetings that denied the Haitian people a free and fair election.
"It was done on the instruction of president Preval so that Celestin would win. He's trying to get his man in power," Martelly told AFP in an interview.
"I don't want to be a part of this," he said. "They organized the fraud and I am positive they are prepared to do everything to remain in power. It's a trap."
The head of the international monitoring mission from the OAS and CARICOM regional blocs, Colin Granderson, told AFP he expected the recount process to begin on Sunday or Monday and that it would last three to five days.
Meanwhile in Washington, a top US senator called for freezing US aid to Haiti's government and denying travel visas to its top officials to force a fair outcome to the November 28 polls.
"their leaders freely and fairly," he said.
The UN Security Council on Friday expressed "deep concern" over the violence and the fraud allegations but urged rival political groups to use "legal mechanisms" to settle their disputes.
Initial results showed Mirlande Manigat, a 70-year-old academic and former first lady, in the lead with 31.37 percent (336,378 votes), Celestin second with 22.48 percent (241,462 votes) and Martelly third with 21.84 percent (234,617 votes).
Whoever wins the run-off faces the daunting task of rebuilding a traumatized nation of 10 million that was the poorest in the Americas even before the quake and the cholera outbreak.
Haiti now appears to be on the brink of the major social unrest with more than one million people are still homeless after the January quake and life is a daily battle for survival amid a deadly cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly 2,200 lives.
The election commission has bowed to pressure from the growing unrest and international displeasure over the election results and announced it will recount the tally sheets in the presence of the three main candidates.
But the biggest loser in the elections, singer-turned-politician Michel Martelly -- who missed out on a place in the second round by less than 7,000 votes -- ruled out his participation in a recount, dismissing it as "a trap."
Martelly is convinced President Rene Preval and his ruling Unity party candidate Jude Celestin rigged the November 28 presidential polls in secret back-room meetings that denied the Haitian people a free and fair election.
"It was done on the instruction of president Preval so that Celestin would win. He's trying to get his man in power," Martelly told AFP in an interview.
"I don't want to be a part of this," he said. "They organized the fraud and I am positive they are prepared to do everything to remain in power. It's a trap."
The head of the international monitoring mission from the OAS and CARICOM regional blocs, Colin Granderson, told AFP he expected the recount process to begin on Sunday or Monday and that it would last three to five days.
Meanwhile in Washington, a top US senator called for freezing US aid to Haiti's government and denying travel visas to its top officials to force a fair outcome to the November 28 polls.
"their leaders freely and fairly," he said.
The UN Security Council on Friday expressed "deep concern" over the violence and the fraud allegations but urged rival political groups to use "legal mechanisms" to settle their disputes.
Initial results showed Mirlande Manigat, a 70-year-old academic and former first lady, in the lead with 31.37 percent (336,378 votes), Celestin second with 22.48 percent (241,462 votes) and Martelly third with 21.84 percent (234,617 votes).
Whoever wins the run-off faces the daunting task of rebuilding a traumatized nation of 10 million that was the poorest in the Americas even before the quake and the cholera outbreak.
Haiti now appears to be on the brink of the major social unrest with more than one million people are still homeless after the January quake and life is a daily battle for survival amid a deadly cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly 2,200 lives.
