High on style, Sarah Palin at Haiti cholera camp

Even a tour of a Haitian refugee camp filled with cholera patients wasn't an occasion former Alaska governor Sarah Palin thought fit to ignore her style statement. While visiting the camp on Saturday clad in a simple grey T-shirt and cargo pants, Palin took care to keep her trademark hairstyle firmly in place.

The Tea Party darling's trip to the impoverished country, still reeling from a devastating earthquake in January and now facing a brutal cholera epidemic, is being tightly stage- managed.

Palin has provided access on her tour solely to Fox News and the religious organisation she is travelling with has asked other Haitian and US journalists to leave the area because of a "security lockdown". No Haitian interviewed by foreign news organisations had ever heard of Palin. But when told she was an American politician, they welcomed her with open arms.

"It would be good if she came, because we could tell her that we need medicine and jobs," said Roseline Frederique, a 21-year-old who is being treated for cholera symptoms.

Palin was a guest of Reverend Franklin Graham, whose aid group works in Haiti.

Graham's organisation, Samaritan's Purse, refused to discuss Palin's itinerary with other media.

"I've enjoyed meeting this community.

They are so full of joy," Palin was quoted as saying on the organisation's website.

"We are so fortunate in America, and we are responsible for helping those less fortunate." Associated Press journalists saw Palin talk with aid workers.

It was her first trip outside the US since speaking to investors in Hong Kong last year. That speech was also closed to the media.

Samaritan's Purse posted pictures online of Palin touring a post- quake shelter, touching the hand of a Haitian child and laughing with Graham and Fox News host Greta van Susteren.

Palin's visit comes amid a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 2,000 people.

This week, the country was rocked by riots following the announcement of the preliminary results from the November 28 presidential election, which eliminated a popular carnival singer from a run- off in favour of the government- backed candidate.

Though Port-au-Prince was calm for most of the day, Palin avoided the capital and visited a Samaritan's Purse project in the small- town of Bercy.