Fed-up Haitians want president out

A UN peacekeeper from Uruguay stands guard next to a body of a man that police believe was killed by unknown gunmen in the Cite Soleil slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
A UN peacekeeper from Uruguay stands guard next to a body of a man that police believe was killed by unknown gunmen in the Cite Soleil slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
A man runs for cover as Haitian police release tear gas on demonstrators protesting against Haiti's President Rene Preval in Port-au-Prince. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
Carrying her son, a woman runs for cover as Haitian police release teargas on anti-Preval demonstrators in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
A demonstrator stops a concrete pipe from crushing his leg during a protest against Haiti's President Rene Preval in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
A policeman argues with protestors during a march protesting against the government in Port-au-Prince. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: Reuters
A boy cries after breathing in tear gas thrown by national policemen in a provisional camp for earthquake victims during clashes with demonstrators in downtown Port-au-Prince.
A man raises his hands as Haitian police clash with protesters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
Haitian police release teargas during a protest against Haiti's President Rene Preval in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
Residents run away from tear gas thrown by national policemen in a provisional camp for earthquake victims during clashes with demonstrators in downtown Port-au-Prince. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: Reuters
A Haitian police takes cover during a clash with protesters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: AP
Residents apply lemon to the face of a boy who breathed in tear gas thrown by national policemen in a provisional camp for earthquake victims during clashes in downtown Port-au-Prince. The term of the current Haitian president had been scheduled to end but Rene Preval will stay in office for three more months as his country chooses a successor in a delayed election. A group protested outside the National Palace, blocking traffic with overturned trash bins and burning tires and chanting "Preval is a crook!". Photo: Reuters

Published Feb 8, 2011

Several hundred protesters clashed with riot police in Haiti's capital on Monday to demand that outgoing President Rene Preval leave office immediately as the country moved toward a deciding presidential run-off vote. The police fired shots in the air and teargas canisters to keep the chanting, stone-throwing demonstrators back from the presidential palace in central Champs de Mars square in Port-au-Prince. “Preval must go,” the demonstrators yelled.

Teargas canisters fell into a crowded tent camp in the square housing thousands of survivors from Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake, and the stinging smoke sent women and children fleeing, the women howling angrily in protest.