President of Somali state of Jubbaland re-elected in divisive vote

GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) - The president of the southern Somali state of Jubbaland, Ahmed Mohamed Madobe, won another term in office on Thursday, the parliamentary speaker said, after a divisive election.

Madobe won 56 of the 74 votes cast by lawmakers in the regional parliament, speaker Sheikh Cabdi Maxamed Abdirahmaan, said.

The central government in Mogadishu said on Saturday it would not recognise the vote's result, saying the candidate selection process had violated the national constitution.

It has accused Madobe of interfering in the process and had backed opposition candidates, who were rejected by the electoral commission when they attempted to register.

(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; editing by John Stonestreet)