Wyclef Jean to run for Haitian presidency

Pop singer Wyclef Jean has announced to run for president of earthquake ravaged Haiti on Tuesday.

Haitian-American hip hop star and humanitarian activist Wyclef Jean will announce his bid for his native country's presidency this week, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Wyclef, whose interest in the post has been rumoured in recent weeks, will make the announcement on CNN's "Larry King Live" show on Thursday, the cable network said quoting a source close to the recording artist.

Current President Rene Preval is barred by the constitution from seeking a new term in the elections scheduled for November 28.

The quake-hit Caribbean nation is struggling to emerge from the massive temblor on January 12 that killed 250,000 people and has left 1.5 million homeless.

Preval's mandate expires in February 2011, but several parties have accused him of seeking to stay in office, adding political tensions to the economic and humanitarian troubles afflicting the impoverished country.

Jean, who lives in New York, is founder of the humanitarian Yele Haiti Foundation and has played a prominent role in securing aid after the earthquake leveled much of the capital city Port-au-Prince.

Widespread allegations of financial mismanagement were leveled at the organisation during the crisis.

The quake caused a huge humanitarian disaster in the poorest country in the Americas.