PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 31 (Reuters) - Haiti's Senate on Thursday ratified President Rene Preval's third choice for prime minister, ending a more than three-month impasse brought about when the last government was dismissed over violent food price protests.

Twelve senators voted in favor of the nomination of economist Michele Pierre-Louis, a director of a foundation that provides libraries, youth education programs and women's networks in the impoverished Caribbean country. Five senators abstained, and none voted against the nomination. (Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; editing by Jim Loney and Mohammad Zargham)

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