Haiti weighs move as observers reject vote count

The political crisis in Haiti showed little sign of easing on Friday as the country's president, René Préval, weighed a report from international observers rejecting the results of the presidential election in November and a protest ended with one person dead and several under arrest. The November balloting was marred by disarray and violence at polling stations, and the report, presented to Mr. Préval on Thursday night by the Organization of American States, said widespread fraud had invalidated the preliminary results announced in December by Haiti's election commission. The report did not dispute some of the initial results, which placed Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady, in the lead by a margin that would still require a runoff. But it said that the second-place finisher, by a narrow margin, was Michel Martelly, a popular singer whose supporters led violent street protests in early December when they learned he had lost to Mr. Préval's handpicked successor, Jude Célestin, a state public works official.