HAVANA, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Thousands of supporters of Haiti's leading presidential candidate Rene Preval held a peaceful demonstration in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, demanding the authorities recognize Preval as the winner of last Tuesday's election.

    Before the presidential palace, the demonstrators denounced alleged vote rigging, reports from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince said.

    Many Haitians, including some members of Haiti's electoral authority, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), have said it is the reason why Preval did not score an outright victory in the race.

    Protestors showed ballot boxes found in a landfill in north Port-au-Prince which contained votes for Preval.

    CEP President Max Mathurin and David Wilmhurst, spokesman for the United Nations Stabilization Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH), told a local television station Telemax that the ballot boxes were authentic.

    On Tuesday, Preval also said that fraud was the reason why his support fell rapidly below 50 percent as vote counting proceeded. The election front-runner said CEP officials had made grave errors and committed electoral fraud.

    Material of the election was in the custody of 9,300-strong MINUSTAH forces which were sent to the Caribbean country after the oust of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

    Haiti is now facing mounting tensions due to allegations of fraud in the elections. Protests erupted when election results indicated Preval did not get 50 percent of the votes needed to secure victory in the first round.

    The UN Security Council, the United States and France have urged all Haitians to respect the election results, but Preval insisted on his victory in the vote. Enditem