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* US Exit From Somalia Slowed By UN Delays

THE United Nations has taken too long to send a military commander to Somalia, and Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has dragged his heels on presenting his report on Somalia to the Security Council, Robert Oakley, the United States special envoy to Somalia, charged yesterday.

Mr. Oakley said most of the 19,000 US troops in Somalia under Operation Restore Hope" had finished their tasks and wanted to hand over command of the remaining 15,000 forces from 22 nations to the UN. He said the delays tended to undermine support for the UN in the US Congress and the military.

Gen. Cevik Bir of Turkey, who was appointed head of UN forces in Somalia last week and will take over command of the multinational force, has yet to arrive in Mogadishu. Mr. Boutros-Ghali, traveling in Asia, delayed his report to the Council.

Oakley said the UN has not made adequate plans to rehabilitate thousands of militiamen from Somalia's warring factions now waiting at assembly points to be integrated into civilian life.

Meanwhile, officials of Somaliland, the breakaway state in northern Somalia, said yesterday it did not want UN forces deployed in the territory it controls. Somaliland declared itself independent after Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. The city of Hargeisa was the capital of British Somaliland until 1960.

* Senegal Holds Ballot

Senegal held presidential elections yesterday in a close race that looks set to run to a second round. President Abdou Diouf, who has led the West African country since 1981, defended his position against seven hopefuls.

All parties said voting had been fairer than ever under electoral rules tightened since the last polls in 1988, when riots flared in Dakar after accusations of rigging by Mr. Diouf's ruling Socialist Party.

Political analysts say the spread of candidates, and a new stipulation that the winner must be backed by at least a quarter of the 2.5 million registered voters, mean polling is likely to go to a second round on March 7. Security was especially tight in the southern province of Casamance, where separatist guerrillas vowed to disrupt polling.

Diouf, who is currently chairman of the Organization of African Unity, was said to be most vulnerable on the economy, one of the weakest in the world, which is strapped by low prices for its groundnut and phosphate exports.

* US Halts Aid to Togo

The US is suspending most of its aid to Togo because of a breakdown in progress toward democracy and the killing of opposition demonstrators, the US Embassy in Lome said Saturday.

Embassy officials said the US was halting aid to various development programs in the small West African country, including a major health project. They said the decision was made after troops loyal to military President Gnassingbe Eyadema killed at least 22 opposition protesters in Lome last month, and because of a stalemate in moves to multiparty rule.

Humanitarian and emergency aid, help for rural credit unions, and scholarships for Togolese students in the US will not be affected.

"The United States has always supported Togo in its efforts to evolve towards a democratic society based on free and fair elections in a climate where security is guaranteed for all Togolese," the Embassy said.France, Togo's biggest donor, also suspended civilian aid to its former colony Feb. 11 after all-party talks collapsed in the French city of Colmar. It halted military cooperation last October after troops kidnapped and beat parliamentarians. Togo's attempted transition to multiparty rule has been one of the most violent in Africa, with hundreds of people killed in the past two years.