Obama fails to contact Haitian president after massive quake

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday made unsuccessful efforts to contact Haitian President Rene Preval, whose presidential palace was badly damaged during the massive earthquake Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama makes remarks about the devastation caused by an earthquake in Haiti as Vice President Joe Biden listens at the White House in Washington January 13, 2010.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

During the course of the day, Obama called UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and regional leaders about the on-going efforts to assist Haiti in the wake of Tuesday's massive earthquake, the White House said. However, he failed to get Preval on the phone.

Kenneth Merten, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, relayed to Obama a conversation he had with Preval earlier in the day, in which Merten conveyed condolences and support of the United States.

Preval's presidential palace suffered extensive damage in the earthquake. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a press availability in Hawaii that Preval "is alive but has nowhere to live."

Apart from Ban, Obama called his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Obama expressed his deepest sympathies to Ban and Lula for the losses suffered by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

At least 16 MINUSTAH personnel were killed in the earthquake, 11 of whom were Brazilians.

In his conversations with Ban and regional leaders, Obama reiterated the U.S. commitment to support the rescue and recovery effort in Haiti.

Lula, Calderon, Bachelet and Harper described the contributions their governments are making to the search and rescue mission and to long-term international efforts to support Haiti's recovery.