Haiti

Haiti will not be able to hold a second round of its disputed presidential election before February as it awaits a report from regional experts on contested preliminary results from the Nov. 28 first round, a senior electoral official said on Tuesday.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon … announced the creation of an independent scientific panel to investigate the source of the outbreak amid widespread media reports that Nepalese peacekeepers from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) are the likely source, with infected water spreading from their base into a nearby tributary of the Artibonite River.

The United Nations is exploring the establishment of an international scientific panel to look into the source of the cholera epidemic in Haiti.

Haiti's President Rene Preval turned to the international community Tuesday to resolve a tense election stalemate that has imperiled earthquake and cholera relief efforts. Preval asked the Organization of American States to send experts to help with a vote recount and deal with legal challenges arising from the first round of Haiti's presidential elections on November 28, which sparked violent protests.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed for an end to violence in Haiti following the announcement of preliminary election results in a country that has already been ravaged this year by a devastating earthquake and a raging cholera epidemic.

Thousands of protesters rampaged in Haitian towns Wednesday, torching buildings in armed clashes that left four dead, after election results triggered bitter accusations of vote-rigging, witnesses said.

The United Nations has called on Haitians to ignore unofficial results of Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections and to wait for the official results to be announced next Tuesday by the country’s electoral council. … On Monday Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a speedy solution to the political crisis following media reports that 12 of the 18 presidential candidates had repudiated the vote and their supporters mounted protests.

Seven experts in civil protection will travel to Haiti today, to join the efforts against the cholera epidemics. The team is deployed by the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) of the European Commission.

The Haitian city of Cap Haïtien is now calm after several days of riots linked to the cholera outbreak in the Caribbean country, and two United Nations agencies have resumed relief operations in the city, the world body’s humanitarian arm reported today.

The United Nations mission in Haiti has deplored yesterday’s acts of violence against local and UN security forces during demonstrations in the cities of Cap-Haitien and Hinche, saying the riots, which resulted in several injuries, were politically motivated.