Guinea strongman swept to victory

Conte changed the constitution to allow himself to stand again

Guinea's President Lansana Conte has convincingly won a third term in office in elections which were boycotted by the opposition.

He won 95.63% of votes, while his only opponent, Mamadou Barry, polled 4.37%, Interior Minister Moussa Solano said.

Other candidates pulled out in protest against a recent constitutional changes allowing Mr Conte to stand again.

Guinea lies at the heart of one of the most unstable parts of West Africa, plagued by wars in recent years.

BBC regional analyst Mark Doyle says border conflicts have spread in the region in a domino effect, and West African leaders have long feared that Guinea could be the next country to experience serious unrest.

Mr Solano said turnout had been just under 83%.

The results now have to be ratified by Guinea's Supreme Court within 72 hours to be valid.

'Farce'

Mr Conte - who seized power in a coup in 1984 on the death of Guinea's first post-independence president, Sekou Toure - recently won a referendum changing the constitution to allow him to seek another term.

All the main opposition figures say the president has also taken control of the electoral commission and has been using state funds to finance his campaign.

They say they will continue to make clear to Mr Conte that he was not acceptable to the people and would have to leave office.

"This is a farce... it's not an election," Sidya Toure, an opposition leader who served as a prime minister in the late 1990s, said earlier this week.