Updated

Women won two of the 29 seats up for grabs on Qatar's municipal council, the only directly elected body in the small but wealthy Gulf nation.

Election supervisory committee chairman Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Majid al-Khulaifi announced the election winners on Thursday. He says nearly 70 percent of the more than 21,000 eligible voters cast ballots.

One of the female winners, Sheikha Yousuf al-Jufairi, was the only woman to win in the last election in 2011.

The Central Municipal Council covers the whole country and primarily deals with local issues in the energy-rich nation, which will host the 2022 World Cup. Wednesday's vote was the fifth election for the council.

Elections for the country's main legislative body, the Shura Council, had been expected in 2013 but never took place.