By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS and WILL CONNORS

Guinea is poised to become Africa’s next nation to reintroduce democracy after a long period of military rule, embarking on a transition that has proved halting and problematic for many African countries.

The National Independent Electoral Commission Monday began counting about four million votes cast over the weekend in what international observers described as the first free elections held in the West African country after more than half a century of authoritarian rule.

The vote, said the U.S. Embassy in Guinea in a statement, went “extraordinarily well.” African Union President Jean Ping welcomed the “neutrality” and “republican discipline” displayed by Guinea’s army forces.

Since its 1958 independence from France, Guinea has been ruled mostly by dictators and leaders of military coups. Some are rejoicing that the cycle may be coming to an end.

“For many years, free elections were a dream,” said Abdoulaye Baillo Diallo, an aide to one of the 24 candidates, all civilians, running for president. “Now it has become a reality.”

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LAGOS, Nigeria —The death of long-ailing Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua appears to end a prolonged period of political uncertainty that threatened to destabilize Africa’s most populous nation, as a successor was sworn in peacefully on Thursday — months after assuming the president’s duties and sidelining his loyalists.

Yet Mr. Yar’Adua’s death late Wednesday will sharpen focus on what analysts say is sure to be an intense period of political jockeying. Nigeria is set to hold presidential elections next year and it remains unclear who the top candidates will be.

The president’s death has further complicated things by upsetting an informal agreement in the ruling political party that the presidency should shift between the north and south of the country every eight years. Mr. Yar’Adua, a northerner, was serving his first four-year term. Goodluck Jonathan, who was sworn in as president Thursday 12 hours after his predecessor’s death, is a southerner and so wasn’t supposed to hold that highest office at this time.

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LAGOS, Nigeria — Guinea’s military ruler Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara was flown to Morocco for medical treatment on Friday, a day after he survived an apparent assassination attempt, dealing another blow to the stability of the tiny, mineral-rich nation in West Africa.

Guinea’s ruling military junta, the National Council for Democracy and Development, placed troops at the airport and throughout the capital city, Conakry, according to Western diplomats. CNDD officials said the situation was under control.

Capt. Camara was flown out of Guinea on a plane provided by Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, according to a senior aid worker who has spoken with diplomats in Conakry.

Government officials said Capt. Camara was shot by Abubakar “Toumba” Diakite, the commander of the presidential guard and a former top aide. President Compaore, who has been leading international mediation efforts to quell Guinea’s political crisis, said Capt. Camara would need an operation to treat his wounds, Reuters reported.

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ABUJA, Nigeria — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Nigeria’s electoral process and high levels of corruption, while pledging U.S. assistance in efforts to bring peace to the volatile and oil-rich Delta region.

During a town-hall meeting in the capital city on Wednesday marked by clapping and hooting, Mrs. Clinton urged Nigeria to fix its “flawed electoral system.” The meeting, which was by invitation, included democracy activists, several state governors and business leaders, including the country directors of U.S. oil companies Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Mrs. Clinton said that Nigeria had the potential to be a member of the Group of 20 countries, “but — a big but — the corruption reputation … it is a problem.”

While chiding Nigerian elections, Mrs. Clinton said, to a big laugh from the audience, “I know a little bit about running in elections, and I have won some elections and I have lost some elections. And in a democracy there have to be winners and losers.”

“Our democracy is still evolving,” she added. “You know we’ve had all kinds of problems in some of our past elections, as you might remember. In 2000, our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of the man running for president was the governor of the state, so we have our problems, too.”

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Here’s my re-cap of last week’s Supreme Court ruling, for the New York Times.

LAGOS, Nigeria — The last legal challenge to the legitimacy of President Umaru Yar’Adua was quashed by the Supreme Court last week, but he and Nigeria are far from out of the woods.

Although Mr. Yar’Adua, a former governor from a remote northern state, finally has a firm mandate to take charge of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous and oil-rich country, he has accomplished so little in the 19 months since his flawed election that few believe that he can.