MAURITANIA’S PRESIDENT MOHAMED GHAZOUANI WINS RE-ELECTION FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF PROVISIONAL RESULTS.

Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ghazouani has been re-elected in office after winning 56.12 per cent of the vote, provisional results showed.

His main rival, Biram Abeid, an anti-slavery human rights activist, came in second place after winning 22 per cent of the vote. Hamadi Mokhtar of the Islamist Tawasul Party got 12.76 per cent. Elections were held on Saturday in Mauritania, a former French colony in north-west Africa.

Results were announced late Sunday after 99 per cent of the votes were counted. Before the announcement, the main rival, Abeid alleged that there was fraud, and riot police dispersed his supporters demonstrating against the results using tear gas.

Image credit:  www.naijanews.com