2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 NATION/WORLD Protests erupt in Haitian capital NEWS IN BRIEF , 16 ",- . ; At least one killed yesterday in pro-Preval protests PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Supporters of Haitian presiden- tial candidate Rene Preval erected smoldering roadblocks across the capital and occupied a luxury hotel yesterday. At least one protester was killed, but U.N. peacekeepers denied witness accounts that they had shot him. As Port-au-Prince descended into chaos, Preval returned to the capi- tal for the first time since the elec- tion today. He was the clear winner with about 90 percent of the votes counted, but supporters claimed electoral officials were tampering with results to prevent him from getting the majority he needs to avoid a runoff. Barricades made of old tires were ablaze across the capital, sending plumes of acrid black smoke into the sky. Protesters let only journal- ists and Red Cross vehicles pass. "If they don't give us the final results, we're going to burn this country down!" a protester screamed. The election will replace an interim government installed after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago. A popular- ly elected government with a clear mandate from the voters 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. Preval arrived in the capital aboard a U.N. helicopter from his rural home in north Haiti. "We have questions about the electoral process," he told reporters after meeting with the top U.N. offi- cial in Haiti and ambassadors from the United States, France, Canada and Brazil. "We want to see how we can save the process." Preval also planned to meet with the interim prime minister and president. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue appealed for calm in a nationally broadcast address. "Peo- ple, don't stay in the streets," he said. "I'm asking you to go home.... The transitional government is not stealing your vote." In the middle-class Tabarre neighborhood, Associated Press journalists saw the body of a man on a street, blood soaking Preval's AP PHOTO Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval help a street vendor to push his cart with produce through a roadblock just outside the Cite-Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday. image emblazoned on his T-shirt. Dozens of witnesses said Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers in a jeep opened fire, killing two people and wound- ing four. The body of the second victim was not seen. "We were peacefully protesting when the U.N. started shooting. There were a lot of shots. Everybody ran," said Walrick Michel, 22. U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst first denied that peacekeepers fired any rounds, then later said they had fired in the air. "We fired two warning shots into the air and we didn't injure any- one," he said. In the Petionville neighborhood i.l the hills east of Port-au-Prince, thousands of screaming protest- ers poured into the Montana Hotel, where election officials had been announcing results. Blue-helmet- ed U.N. peacekeepers armed with assault rifles looked on from the grounds and the roof. No violence was reported. Protesters waving Preval campaign posters and tree branches jumped up and down in unison, chanting: "Now is the time! Now is the time!" Doz- ens somersaulted fully clothed into the pool, turning the water into froth as they splashed around - a rare treat in a country where most people lack running water. Protesters stretched out on chaise lounges and ran up and down the hotel stairs past rooms costing $200 and more a night. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Des- mond Tutu, who is visiting Haiti, came out of his suite to appeal for calm. One of his security agents said the South African had refused to be evacuated by a helicopter plucking guests from the roof. U.N. peacekeepers controlled access to a separate part of the hotel that was being used as an election center, and U.N. Huey helicopters clattered overhead. After several hours, the crowd began to file out of the hotel. "We came looking for someone to give us the real results," said a 30- year-old Preval organizer who iden- tified himself only as "Sanpeur." "We made them leave because we don't want disorder. We did not come here looking for violence." With about 90 percent of the vote counted, Preval was leading with 48.7 percent, Haiti's electoral coun- Your Degree Faster! GET a head start on this fall and your career. Choose from hundreds of real-world classes taught by world-class faculty Rack up the credit you need to graduate faster with classes as short as eight weeks Take classes at five convenient locations cil said on its Web site. His near- est opponent was Leslie Manigat, another former president, who had 11.8 percent. But of the 2.2 million ballots cast, about 125,000 ballots have been declared invalid because of irregu- larities, raising suspicion among Preval supporters that polling offi- cials were rigging the election. Another 4 percent of the ballots were blank but were still added into the total, making it harder for Preval to obtain the 50 percent plus one vote needed. Jacques Bernard, director-general of the nine-member electoral coun- cil, denied accusations that the coun- cil voided many votes for Preval. Council member Patrick Fequiere said Bernard was releasing results without notifying other council members, who did not know where Bernard was obtaining his informa- tion. And another council member, Pierre Richard Duchemin, said he was being denied access to the tab- ulation process. "According to me, there's a cer- tain level of manipulation," Duch- emin said, adding that "there is an effort to stop people from asking questions." Iran demads Denmark apologize Iran rejects accusations it inflamed violence over prophet caricatures TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The Iranian government on Sunday rejected an accu- sation by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that it has fanned violent protests over caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muham_- mad and demanded an apology, saying that could reduce growing tension. Rice, meanwhile, said Iran and Syria shouldbe urgingntheir citizens to remain calm - not encouraging violence like last week's attacks on Western diplomatic missions in Teh- ran, Damascus and Beirut, Lebanon. Nearly a dozen people also were killed in protests in Afghanistan. "If people continue to incite it, it could spin out of control," she said Sun- day on ABC's "This Week" as furor mounted over the cartoons of Islam's most revered figure that first appeared in a Danish newspaper four months ago. The drawings - including one that depicts the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb - have been reprinted in several publica- tions in Europe, the United States and elsewhere in what publishers say is a show of solidarity for freedom of expression. " s s Join America's #1 Student Tour Operator lANAI B Saddam returns to courtroom Prosecutors produced documents and put former aides to Saddam Hussein on the stand yesterday as they made their strongest attempt yet to link him directly to torture and executions. The ousted president, who looked disheveled and appeared in his slippers, shout- ed "Down with Bush!" Saddam's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim - dressed only in an undershirt and long underwear - struggled with guards as he was pulled into the courtroom. Ibrahim, the former chief of intelligence, then sat on the floor with his back to the judge in protest for much of the session. The defendants have rejected court-appointed attorneys named to replace their own lawyers who walked out of the trial last month, and are demanding the remov- al of chief judge Rouf Abdel-Rahman. In Jordan, Saddam's chief defense lawyer said there were no plans to end the boycott and denounced the court for forcing the former leader to attend. ASHIGTN White House defends response to Katrina The Bush administration yesterday pushed back hard against Katrina- response criticism leveled by ex-disaster agency chief Michael Brown and congressional investigators. "I reject outright the suggestion that President Bush was anything less than fully involved," said White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "unequivocally and strong- ly" rejected suggestions that his agency was preoccupied with terror threats at the expense of preparing for natural disasters. Both spoke at a conference of state emergency management directors in suburban Alexandria, Va. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas Wounded hunter in stable condition A 78-year-old hunting companion of Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering in stable condition yesterday after Cheney accidentally shot him during a weekend quail hunting trip, a hospital official said. Harry Whittington "rested well last night," said Peter Banko, hospital administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. The hospital listed Whittington's condition as "very stable"he said. Whittington, an Austin attorney, was flown to the hospital after Cheney accidentally shot him with birdshot Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch. TEHRAN, Iran Iran postpones nuclear negotiations Iran notched up the brinksmanship over its disputed nuclear program yesterday, abruptly postponing talks with Moscow on a plan to enrich Tehran's uranium on Russian territory to allay fears it is building an atomic weapon. Diplomats in Europe said Iran had started small-scale enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce fuel for an atomic bomb. "Uranium gas has been fed into three machines," said a senior diplomat in Vienna, Austria, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the matter. Another diplomat confirmed that limited enrichment had begun at Iran's Natanz site. - Compiled from Daily wirereports CORRECTIONS An article in the Jan. 26 edition of The Daily (Making the grade) incorrectly stated that Donald Graham chairman of the Washington Post Company, donated money used to build the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center. 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