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DILI - Polling stations have opened in East Timor for a presidential run-off vote in the tiny nation between Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and parliament chief Francisco Guterres.
The first-round vote a month ago brought complaints of widespread irregularities, stoking concerns of instability in a poor nation still struggling to heal divisions five years after it won independence from Indonesia.
Dili appeared calm and at a polling station in an elementary school in the capital voters were quietly queuing to vote.
"I voted for the future of the country. I hope the newpeace prize winner who spearheaded an overseas campaign for East Timor's independence, appears to have the edge after five of the first-round losers urged their supporters to vote for him.
The bespectacled Ramos-Horta has said he would honour the results even if they were not 100 per cent clean.
Outgoing President Xanana Gusmao, who will now run for post of prime minister, called on Tuesday for a focus on the national interest.
"We began to construct a state from scratch and, when we had a faint feeling of strength and stability, we disintegrated into the crisis of last year," he told a meeting of diplomats.
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 but 30,000 people remain in camps across Dili, too afraid to go home.
The UN mission in East Timor has said 1,700 UN police would be deployed across the country for the elections, backed by international troops.
More than 270 foreign observers and about 2,000 local observers would monitor the elections.
The UN chief electoral officer, Steven Wagenseil, said preliminary results were expected on Friday evening.
East Timor's presidential post is largely ceremonial but many hope the winner will unite a nation beset by regional rivalry, rebellious security forces and disillusionment among citizens five years after the joyous celebrations of independence
- REUTERS
