Opposition takes 'early lead' in Kenyan elections

Political veteran Mwai Kibaki has taken an early lead in landmark elections in Kenya that mark the end of President Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule.

Kibaki, leader of the National Rainbow Coalition, is pitted against Uhuru Kenyatta, who was hand-picked by Moi to be the flag bearer for the Kenya African National Union.

The hand-counting of paper ballots has been slow, and the Electoral Commission, which has been widely criticized for incompetence, had announced no result.

But the Institute for Education in Democracy, an independent body said preliminary results showed that 71-year-old Kibaki had polled 452,718 votes to 197,201 for Kenyatta.