Somalia extends election deadline

MOGADISHU: Somalia on Saturday extended its deadline to finish voting for the lower house of parliament, the latest in a series of election delays that risk starving the country of budget funds.

The fragile Horn of Africa nation has struggled to hold elections, with polls delayed by more than a year, bedevilled by political squabbling and a simmering Islamist insurgency.

The lower house elections were due to be completed on Friday and pave the way for lawmakers to pick a president.

But Deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Yusuf said the deadline had now been revised to March 15.

"The National Consultative Council... expressed their disappointment with the fact that they could not meet the deadline," the minister said in a televised address.