From "Agence France Presse"

  Scheduled burning of superfluous ballots postponed in Senegal

DAKAR, Jan 25 (AFP)- A set of ballots printed for presidential elections
set for February 27 in Senegal were not burned as planned on Tuesday at the
request of the national electoral commission, officials said.
 The interior ministry had decided to incinerate the documents after
ordering a separate set from Israel that it said were superior because they
cannot be copied or falsified.
 The order for the locally produced set was not cancelled in case the
foreign order was not fulfilled in time for the vote, the ministry had
explained.
 The opposition has charged that the set printed in Israel had been ordered
illegally and in secret, and favour incumbent President Abdou Diouf, who is
seeking reelection.
 The National Election Observatory (ONEL) has asked for a meeting with the
interior ministry to determine the conditions for burning the Senegal-made
ballots, an ONEL official said, complaining that the minisrty had decided
"unilaterally" to burn them.
 Suspicion has clouded the run-up to the elctions for the past year, with
the opposition frequently accusing the ruling Socialist Party, in power
since independence in 1960, of fraud.
 The ONEL is seeking to defuse tensions over the controversy by delaying
the burning.
 The opposition had rejected an invitation to attend the event, branding
the affair suspicious.

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