UPDATE 1-Somaliland opposition leader Cirro wins election, Garowe reports

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NAIROBI, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Somaliland opposition leader Abdirahman Cirro has won the presidential election in the breakaway Somali region, beating incumbent Muse Bihi Abdi, news outlet Garowe Online reported on Tuesday.

Cirro, leader of the opposition Waddani party, won 64% of the vote against Bihi’s 35%, the Somaliland Electoral Commission announced, according to Garowe.

Somaliland has de facto self-rule after breaking away from Somalia in 1991, but it has not been recognised by any country, restricting access to international finance and the ability of its 6 million people to travel.

It occupies a strategic location at the juncture of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

(Reporting by Giulia Paravicini and Aaron Ross; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning)

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