Somaliland preliminary results due on Friday

The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are due to announce the preliminary results of Monday's presidential elections on Friday, according to a senior official.

The chairman of Somaliland's electoral commission, Ahmad Haji Ali "Adami", told IRIN that the commission was planning to release preliminary results by Thursday but "heavy rains have impeded results from coming in from outlying districts".

He said results from Hargeysa, the capital, were in, but "we are still waiting for the others. This has pushed back our timetable by at least two days", he said.

Adami said the voting had been "peaceful and orderly with not a single report of violence". He added that voter turnout had been heavy, with most of the estimated one million or so Somalilanders eligible to vote, casting their ballots.

He admitted, however, that there were problems in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag. He said voting was proceeding normally in some districts, but in others "it is not going very well because of security reasons".

The two regions fall geographically within Somaliland, but most of their clans are associated with the neighboring self-declared autonomous region of Puntland. The Puntland authorities had warned that they would not allow elections to go ahead in Sool and Sanaag.

Somaliland's incumbent president, Dahir Riyale Kahin of the UDUB party, faces a strong challenge from Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo of the Kulmiye Party and Faysal Ali Warabe of the Justice and Welfare Party. Both opposition contenders have expressed concern that the polls may not be free and fair.

Meanwhile, other sources in Hargeysa told IRIN that Kahin was ahead of his main opponent, Silanyo, in early results. Adami, however, dismissed this "as mere speculation". He stressed that "a fair picture of how the election is going will not be known for another two days".

Foreign observers from the UK, the US, South Africa, Ethiopia and the EU, who were monitoring the election, have not yet announced their verdict on the process.