Djibouti's veteran ruler Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected for a fifth term as president with more than 98 percent of the vote, according to provisional results announced on Saturday.
Voters headed to the polls on Friday in the tiny but strategically important Horn of Africa nation Djibouti.
The desert nation of less than one million people lies on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, the Gulf of Aden, and hosts U.S., Chinese, and French military bases, letting it punch above its weight.
Guelleh, 73, is one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders. He was picked to succeed his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who led the country to independence from France in 1977.
Guelleh faced only one challenger, relative newcomer Zakaria Ismail Farah.
