OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) -- The presidential election in Burkina Faso this weekend was

free of tampering or other irregularities, a panel of independent monitors said Monday.

``The conditions for the elections were good,'' French election observer Alain Terrenoire told reporters

in the capital, Ouagadougou. ``There was calm and patience on the part of voters.''

Terrenoire said he and eight other observers from European Union member states visited 50 polling

stations during the elections in this landlocked West African country.

Results from the vote have not yet been tallied, but are expected to be announced this week.

However, with most leading opposition candidates boycotting the vote, President Blaise Compaore is

expected to win easily.

Critics maintain that Compaore manipulated the election, and say that the other candidates were his

supporters.

A second local group of election monitors, the National Independent Observers Group, said the voting

was mostly open and fair, and noted a few abnormalities.

``The process was relatively satisfactory,'' said the group's spokesman, Eduard Ouadreago. ``In some

outlying areas we saw unacceptable practices.''

In some cases, he said, voters were allowed to cast their ballots despite having no identification.

Both monitoring groups said voter turnout appeared to be much higher than in the previous

presidential seven years ago, when only about 26 percent of the electorate participated.

Compaore took power in a military coup in 1987 and later transformed his leadership into a civilian

administration with elections in 1991.

AP-NY-11-16-98 1759EST