Polls open in Djibouti as veteran ruler Guelleh seeks fifth term

Giant campaign banner advertising the candidacy of Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh

Voting began Friday in Djibouti where Ismail Omar Guelleh is seeking an all but assured fifth term as president of the small but strategically located nation he has ruled for 22 years. Some 215,000 citizens are registered to vote in the ballot pitting Guelleh, 73, against a little-known businessman widely seen to pose little threat to the strongman, who inherited power in 1999. Polling stations opened at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) across the arid Horn of Africa nation, which overlooks one of the world's busiest trade routes at the crossroads between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. ‘I am always the first to vote. I am a Djiboutian, I have to vote,’ said 64-year-old Ahmed Abdillah Hadi after casting his ballot at a polling station in the capital city.