21 March 2011 Last updated at 06:22 ET

Musician Wyclef Jean treated for gunshot wound to hand

The injury did not stop the singer from voting

Haiti-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been released from hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand, his spokesman has said.

The shooting took place after 2300 local time on Saturday near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said Joe Mignon, senior programme director for Jean's Yele Foundation.

"The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand," Jean told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"I heard blow, blow, blow, and I just looked at my hand."

The shooting came on the eve of presidential elections in Haiti.

Jean, 41, did not let the incident stop him from voting - he is supporting fellow musician Michel Martelly.

Jean, who was with a driver and the Haitian hip-hop singer FanFan at the time he was injured, said he did not know who fired the shots, or whether they were directed at him.

Haitian police chief Mario Andresol said: "We can't tell you if he was injured by a bullet or something else. He (Jean) will to have to answer to police no matter what."

The presidential election was originally scheduled for 2010, but was delayed due to the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January last year. It killed an estimated 230,000 people and left more than one million homeless.

Jean had intended last year to run for president but last August, Haiti's electoral council ruled that Jean was not eligible to run for president in his home country.

It was because he did not meet a requirement that presidential candidates maintain five consecutive years of residency in the country before running.

He withdrew his bid and said he planned to release an album, called If I Were President: The Haitian Experience, in 2011.