Early results in Angola give ruling party lead

LUANDA, Angola—Angolan election officials say early parliamentary results give the ruling party a big lead over a former rebel group.

The officials said late Saturday that more than 2 million votes had been counted. They did not say how many of the more than 8 million registered voters had cast ballots.

The early results from voting Friday and Saturday gave the ruling party more than 80 percent.

It was expected to take several days to complete counting. The vote was marred by organizational problems, and balloting had to be extended by a day in the capital.

The last time Angola held elections was in 1992 during a break in decades of civil war, which started in 1975 after the country gained independence from Portugal, and ended in 2002.