The Haitian general election was called off yesterday as loyalists of President Jean-Claude Duvalier turned it into a bloodbath reminiscent of the heyday of the old regime.

Roving gangs of the former Tontons Macoute, was ousted dictator's private militia, some of them dressed in the uniform of the regular army, massacred at least 23 people as they queued to vote.

Foreign journalists covering the events were also attacked: one was killed and two were seriously wounded.

The Independent Electoral Council, which organized the ballot, was dissolved by the provisional military Government, which said it would organize new elections itself at an unspecified date.

A communique, signed by army chief General Henri Namphy and his Cabinet, accused the council of placing itself above the law and every other Haitian institution, and of inviting foreign interference in Haitian affairs.

It said the council put the unity of the nation at peril, an apparent reference to the battering of Duvalierist candidates from seeking office.

The regime also decreed state confiscation of all electoral council property and dissolved all previous election decrees and laws, including those that set the dates and regulations for holding yesterday's elections.

The Haitian Constituion specifically prohibits Duvalier associates from being elected to public office. It also gives full power for running elections to the electoral council.

Dr Ernst Mirville, president of the council, had issued a statement urging voters 'not to expose themselves to barbarous Duvalierist acts'.

He appealed to Haitians to remain in their homes and to 'jealously guard' their voter registration cards, which he described as 'the principal weapon in the fight for democracy'.

The violence which crippled the election began soon after dawn. Carloads of gunmen were unleashed into the streets of the capital, scattering lines of people waiting for polling stations to open and sending journalists gathered outside a hotel diving for cover.

A mob of 50 burst into a school, shooting and hacking to death parents and children. At least 14 died. Several witnesses counted up to 20 bodies, some of them disemboweled by machete strokes.