Haitian Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis was dismissed in a no-confidence vote by the country's Senate Saturday, reports reaching here said.

In the vote, 16 out of 27 senators upheld the dismissal of Jacques Edouard Alexis, who had held the post for about 23 months, for failing to improve the production of foodstuffs.

President Rene Preval said Saturday he would appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible, and that the price for imported rice would be lowered by more than 15 percent to 43 U.S. dollars, in an effort to relieve people who are suffering from poverty.

On Saturday afternoon, a United Nations peacekeeping soldier from Nigeria was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, bringing to six the number of people killed in the conflict between the UN peacekeeping mission and local rioters protesting soaring food prices.

Rising food prices are causing unrest around the world, but the situation in Haiti has been worse, with food prices rising 50 percent over the past few months.

Source: Xinhua