PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) -- Haitians and their neighbors have welcomed the election of Rene Preval as president, amid signs aid was in the pipeline to help restore stability in the Hemisphere's poorest country.

Haitians had celebrated in the streets after Preval was declared the winner of the February 7 presidential election early Thursday following a reshuffling of blank ballots, in an internationally brokered deal over fraud claims.

His election closes a chapter on a UN-backed interim government installed after former president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled the country two years ago in the face of an armed uprising.

Neighboring countries offered their congratulations and encouragement.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, testifying on Thursday before the U.S. Congress, welcomed the announcement of Haiti's new president and paved the way for more U.S. aid to Haiti.

"As the government develops now, I think we will want to look at what we need to do to support Haiti," she said. "This is a chance for a country that has had too few chances." Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper congratulated Preval and called for "national reconciliation, political dialogue and fundamental reform" in Haiti.

Canada, which has a large Haitian expatriate community, is a major aid donor to the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation, pledging 180 million Canadian dollars (155 million U.S. dollars) since 2004.

The presidency of the Dominican Republic said the election of Preval marked a new "historic day" for Haiti.

In New York, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday called Preval's victory a "reasonable way" to settle an impasse over vote fraud allegations that could have led to violence.

"Rene Garcia Preval is credited with 51.15 percent of the votes, based on 96 percent of voting stations counted, and is declared the winner," electoral authorities said in statement.

The announcement followed five days of protests over earlier partial results that gave Preval 48.76 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent majority needed to win outright.

Preval, 63, a former president, had rejected the partial results, decrying what he said was "massive fraud or gross errors" and encouraging his supporters to demonstrate. Under the internationally brokere deal, electoral authorities said blank votes from the February 7 election had been distributed on a pro-rata basis among the 32 candidates. This took Preval over the 50 percent mark.

While crowds danced and sang in the streets of Port-au-Prince, former president Leslie Manigat, the runner-up in the election, said Preval's victory was a "reward for violence" and that he was robbed of the right to face off with Preval in a second round.

"As we did in the 1988 coup against us, we say good luck to the country," said Manigat, 75, who was president for less than five months before he was ousted in 1988.

He accused the government of caving in to pressure from Preval and certain members of the international community.

Government officials insisted foreign diplomats never imposed a deal but helped find a solution to avert renewed turmoil in Haiti, which plunged into chaos in early 2004, when Aristide resigned and fled the country.

"The diplomats backed the government in its efforts to appease the situation," said Michel Brunache, chief of staff for interim Haitian President Boniface Alexandre. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said his government acted as "facilitator" in the discussions.

Brazil leads the 9,500-strong UN international peacekeeping force MINUSTAH in Haiti and was among the first, with Chile and Canada, to congratulate Preval.

Preval was president from 1996 to 2001. He served as prime minister in Aristide's government in 1991, but his aides say the two men are no longer in contact. Aristide is currently living in exile in South Africa.

Like Aristide, Preval is considered a champion of the poor, who make up 77 percent of Haiti's 8.5 million population.