Violence had largely subsided in most parts of the capital by the weekend

The recount was announced after days of street protests by opposition supporters.

Front-runner Mirlande Manigat said the Haitian electoral council had not come up with clear procedures or a timetable.

She said she was open to other initiatives to settle the crisis.

The proposal was also rejected by Michel Martelly, who came third.

Mr Martelly said he would not accept a recount conducted by the same group that, he alleges, manipulated the results in the first place.

He had earlier said that the count was rigged to deny him a second-round run-off place.

'Satisfactory consensus'

Governing party candidate Jude Celestin, who came second and is therefore through to the next round, said he supported the proposal for a recount.

Six election monitoring groups issued a statement calling for a proper dialogue involving all the candidates in the disputed poll.

"A consultation that can achieve a satisfactory consensus is essential to unblock the impasse and end up with results accepted by all that can be successfully implemented," it said.

"All disputes should be heard, regarding the legislative elections as well as the presidential election," the groups said.

Election results announced on Tuesday gave 31% to Ms Manigat, and 22% to Mr Celestin.

Mr Martelly came third with 21%, about 6,800 votes short of Mr Celestin.

On Thursday, election officials announced they would hold an immediate vote recount in the presence of all top three candidates and international observers.