Profile: Haiti's President Rene Preval

Haiti's President-elect Rene Preval took oath of office before the Congress on Sunday noon.

The following is the profile of Rene Preval, who previously led the country from 1996 to 2001.

Born on Jan. 17, 1943 in Port-au-Prince, Preval lived for 10 years in the United States during the reign of former Haitian dictator Jean-claude Duvalier in the 1970s, returning after his downfall in 1986.

Preval, previously the owner of a bakery, headed from 1987 to 1991 a special panel to investigate the disappearance of many Haitians during Duvalier's reign.

Preval served as prime minister as well as minister of defense and internal affairs in ousted leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide's first administration from February 1991 until the government was toppled in September that year.

On Dec. 17, 1995, Preval was elected president as candidate of the ruling Lavalas party. He took office on Feb. 7, 1996, and led Haiti for five years.

In February 2001, Preval handed back the sash of office to Aristide, who had won another term in office.

On Feb. 7, 2006, Preval ran for the L'Espwa (Hope) party in Haiti's first presidential and parliamentary elections after Aristide's ousting.