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DILI - East Timor's presidential election was heading for a run-off today between Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and parliament's chief, adding to uncertainty in a nation still struggling to unite after a year of crisis.
Monday's polls were mostly peaceful but divisions in the young, dirt-poor nation run deep five years after independence.
A regional split erupted into bloodshed last May after the sacking of 600 mutinous troops from the western region. Foreign troops had to be brought in to restore order.
Ramos-Horta and parliament chief Francisco Guterres of the ruling Fretilin Party, also known by the guerrilla nickname "Lu'olo" he had during the fight against 24 years of Indonesian rule, were out in front, preliminary vote counts showed.
"The most probable situation is Mr. Lu'olo and Mr. Ramos-Horta will go to the second round," election commission spokesman Martinho Gusmao told reporters.
He had earlier said that 70 per cent of votes had been counted but declined to give a new percentage, just saying the tally was based on 357,776 valid votes.
Roughly half a million voters were registered to vote in the former Portguese colony.
Guterres, whose well-organised Fretilin Party has bigger support in rural areas, had 29 per cent of the vote, while Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace prize winner who spearheaded an overseas campaign for independence from Indonesia, had 23 per cent, Gusmao said.
The Democratic Party's Fernando de Araujo, who was earlier neck-and-neck, had slipped back to 19 per cent.
If no one wins more than half the vote, a run-off will be held on May 8.
Five candidates, including De Araujo, called for a recount, alleging widespread irregularities. They said they would not accept the result if their appeal was rejected.
"There are a lot of irregularities in this process and we want to tell the public we are not happy," said De Araujo.
EU endorses vote
EU observer chief Javier Pomes Ruiz told a news conference that the election had mostly gone smoothly with a high turnout.
"The opinion of the EU observation mission in general is that the level of violence and intimidation is not enough to change the opinion of a peaceful and orderly process," said Ruiz.
The EU was the biggest foreign monitoring body.
The bespectacled Ramos-Horta, who has the highest international profile, said he was concerned that if Fretilin won it would show hostility to neighbours such as Australia.
"The Fretilin government has little sensitivity toward the region," he said. Ramos-Horta has said he would like Australian and other international forces to stay on longer in East Timor.
The socialist-leaning Fretilin, which was the main group in East Timor's fight against Indonesian rule, controls parliament. Ramos-Horta left it and became an independent when he was in exile. Julio Thomas, a political analyst at the National University of Timor Leste, played down the prospect of immediate trouble.
"The prospect of violence even if Fretilin's candidate lost is minimum. But it will be more dangerous if Fretilin lost in the parliamentary elections (in June). There could be chaos."
Supporters of rival candidates clashed during campaigning last week, injuring more than 30 people and prompting international troops to fire tear gas and warning shots.
President Xanana Gusmao told reporters parliamentary elections would be held on June 30.
- REUTERS
