Ibrahim Boubacar Keita wins Mali presidential polls

PanARMENIAN.Net - Mali's presidential election has been won by Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after his rival admitted defeat in the second round.

Keita, 68, served as Prime Minister from 1994 to 2000.

Mali has suffered a year of unrest including a military coup and a French-led military intervention to oust Islamist rebels from the north.

No official results have yet been released following the runoff on Sunday, Aug 11, however, reports had put Keita well ahead.

Ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse said he had congratulated Keita and wished him good luck. In the first round Cisse polled just 19% against Keita's 40% and most of the other candidates then gave Keita their endorsements.

Keita - known as IBK - will now oversee more than $4bn in foreign aid promised to rebuild the West African state.

A 12,600-strong United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (Minusma) is currently deploying, as France begins to withdraw its 3,000 troops.

After the first round Cisse had complained of widespread fraud, with more than 400,000 ballots declared spoiled. However, Mali's Constitutional Court rejected the allegations and the head of the EU election observer mission, Louis Michel, praised the electoral process for its transparency.

On Monday, observers from the EU and the African Union again praised the way the second round was carried out.

"Malians should be congratulated because it seems to me they are regaining control of their democratic destiny, which is in fact nevertheless a tradition that exists in Mali," said Michel.