DILI - East Timor's two man presidential race is shaping up to be a walkover, according to preliminary results in the tiny territory's first such elections, the final hurdle before it gains full independence next month.
The former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao leads on 79.4 per cent, after counting in the capital Dili of 63.6 per cent of the 78,500 votes cast, the rest being invalid.
His only rival, Francisco Xavier do Amaral, was on 17.6 per cent.
The world's newest nation will be declared formally independent on May 20, after centuries of foreign occupation.
The half-island territory is still recovering from a bloody vote in August 1999 to break from 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.
The result triggered a wave of destruction and killing by gangs of militia and the United Nations estimates more than 1,000 people perished.
The United Nations has been running East Timor ever since.
Gusmao looking set for landslide - East Timor
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