Associated Press
Monday, April 28, 2008

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 27 -- President René Préval on Sunday chose an international banking official to be the troubled country's next prime minister, a Haitian lawmaker said.

Préval has designated Ericq Pierre, a senior official with the Inter-American Development Bank, to succeed ousted prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, said Stephen Benoit, a member of Préval's L'Espwa party in the lower house of parliament.

The Haitian National Assembly must approve the nomination. It was not known when lawmakers would take up the matter.

Alexis was ousted following riots over food prices and shortages earlier this month that left seven people dead.