By Abdiqani Hassan GAROWE, Somalia, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A former finance minister won a presidential poll in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland on Thursday and said improving security would be his top priority in a region notorious for piracy and kidnapping. Abdirahman Mohamed Farole defeated President Adde Muse by winning the votes of 49 of the 66 legislators who cast ballots. Muse accepted the result and congratulated Farole. "I am very happy to be elected," Farole told reporters as crowds of his supporters celebrated in the capital Garowe. "The first priority will be tightening security." Puntland has been relatively peaceful compared to southern Somalia, which has been mired in conflict for 18 years. But the northern region has become infamous as a base for pirates who have hijacked scores of vessels for ransom in the busy Gulf of Aden shipping lanes off the coast. Onshore, Puntland has also seen the emergence of powerful criminal gangs involved in kidnapping and money counterfeiting. (Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Louise Ireland and David Clarke)
Former kidnapped aid workers Keiko Akahane (L) and Wilhem Sools clasp hands in this photo released by French group Medecins du Monde January 8, 2009. Akahane and Sools, volunteers with Medecins ...
