Vote counting has begun in Liberia's first post-war presidential run-off in which football star George Weah and former World Bank executive Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf are vying for the nation's top post, the electoral commission announced Tuesday evening following the close of the polls.

"Since there is only one race going on, counting will begin immediately," the electoral boss, Frances Johnson-Morris said. "Generators and lanterns will provide light for the staff counting the ballots tonight."

The west African state has been without electricity for the last 15 years due to the civil war from 1989 to 2003.

"All ballots will be counted on site," Johnson-Morris said, urging all party representatives to "stay for the duration of this period and keep accurate records of the proceeding to enhance the transparency of the process."

"The Liberian people have made their choice through the ballot today, and we are all obliged to respect the choice made by the men and women of this nation," said the electoral commission boss said, flanked by the UN special representative to Liberia Alan Doss.

"We hope that as we process the votes, you will all wait for the outcome of this election with a spirit of unity, and that we all guard the peace we have enjoyed throughout this process."

Buttressing the Johnson-Morris' caution, the UN special envoy said, "today's run-off election offers the people of Liberia the opportunity to leave behind the war that has wrecked this country for so long and enter into a future of peace and stability."

Although Doss said he witnessed the election conducted in a peaceful and transparent manner and without disruption or violence, he assured that the UN peacekeepers will "remain on full alert throughout the country to ensure a secured environment."

The UN point man disclosed that five arrests were reported including three for assault, but it was not clear if they were related to the election.

Regarding the outcome of the election, Doss said that "while we do not know this evening which of the two candidates will be chosen as the newly elected leader of Liberia, we do know that today, Liberian voters haven taken a major step towards rebuildingtheir nation."

"I appeal to the candidates to urge their supporters to be patient in waiting for the results and accept the results peacefully," he said.

It is expected that by Wednesday afternoon progressive results from the poll would begin to roll in, the electoral commission has indicated.

The west African state is emerging out of 14 years of civil war which had ravaged all of its basic social-economic and political infrastructure, and the election is seen as the country's last hope for a brighter future provided the election is conducted freely, fairly and credibly and whose outcome should be accepted by all Liberians, the international community has warned.

A peace deal among Liberian warring factions, brokered by the Economic Community of West African States, was signed in August 2003 putting in place a two-year transitional government whose tenure ends next January 16.

In support of the agreement, the UN Security Council, through resolution 1509 (2003), authorized the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops and more than 1,000 civilian police personnel to assist the transitional government reestablish civil authority in the country and disarm combatants as well as conduct democratic elections not later than October 2005.

Civil authority has been reestablished and more than 100,000 combatants have been disarmed.

The run-off is being held as none of the 22 presidential candidates could obtain the more than 50 percent votes required to win during the first round on October 11.

Thirty-nine-year-old football great Weah and 66-year-old economic expert, Johnson-Sirleaf obtained 28.3 percent and 19.8 percent of the votes respectively, thereby making them two lead candidates for the run-off.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2005)