2 Die in Haiti election violence

Port-au-Prince, Agency
Police confirmed Tuesday that two people died as a result of incidents in which a delegation of ruling-party presidential candidate Jude Celestin was implicated.

An official at police headquarters in Jeremie, capital de Grand'Anse province, told Efe that one person was killed in the incidents and another was seriously wounded and died in hospital.

The police source offered no further details and would only say that a police unit was sent to the town of Beaumont and "restored order," and that an investigation has been launched to determine the exact circumstances of the incident.

Police said that the visit of Celestin's delegation to the southwestern region sparked a show of hostility in the town of Roseau, where, however, there were no victims.

Media outlets offered different numbers of people wounded and also gave conflicting accounts of what happened, since some refer to an "attack" against the Celestin delegation, while others speak of clashes between his supporters and those of rival Charles Henry Baker.

According to Radio Metropole, the Celestin delegation was attacked with bottles and stones by Baker's followers, who organized a rally in Beaumont.

Celestin confirmed the attack on his Web page, on which he called for non-violence and said he was "convinced that this is the most powerful weapon that the Haitian people have in their fight for justice in this country."

Haitians will go to the polls Sunday for elections as the country struggles to recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake that left more than 200,000 dead and a million homeless.

The impoverished Caribbean nation is also coping with a cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 1,400 lives since Oct. 19.

Haiti's most popular party, ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas, is excluded from the elections.