Mauritanian president wins poll

It's been announced in Mauritania that President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya has been re-elected for another six years in office.

Officials say he won more than ninety per-cent of the votes in the election which took place on Friday.

They put the turn-out at more than seventy per-cent.

The main opposition parties boycotted the ballot, saying it couldn't be fair without an independent electoral commission.

There were also complaints that polling stations stayed open late, and that some people voted using false identity papers.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service