Somalia sets presidential election for September 10

Somalia's parliament will hold a presidential election on September 10, the final stage of a UN-backed process to set up a new administration for the war-torn country, an election official said Friday. "September 10, 2012, is the day that the presidential elections of the Somali Federal Republic will take place," Osman Libah Ibrahim, spokesman for the presidential elections committee, told reporters.
The new parliament, whose members were selected this month by a group of traditional elders, will vote in a secret ballot. The election has already been delayed several times - having already missed an August 20 deadline - but international pressure has increased on lawmakers to hold the vote swiftly. At least a dozen candidates are expected to run for the top job, although officials will only begin accepting applications from September 3.