Family saga sours in Pacific poll

The Pacific archipelago of Kiribati has a new president, after Anote Tong defeated his older brother in a hotly-contested poll.

In the final round of a lengthy presidential election on Friday, Mr Tong, a former cabinet minister, got 13,556 votes against 12,457 for his brother, veteran politician Harry Tong.

Kiribati has a population of 94,000 living on small atolls that are spread over more than three million square kilometres.

A key issue during the campaign was the presence of a Chinese satellite spy base on the capital atoll of Tarawa.

Anote Tong pledged to review the Chinese lease and "to take the appropriate actions at the right time".

Over the last two weeks of the campaign the election had turned deeply personal, with Anote Tong publicly questioning his brother's lifestyle - a medical doctor who has married several times.

Kiribati's last president, Teburoro Tito was ousted in a vote of no confidence last March - just one day into his third term.

Kiribati - known as the Gilbert islands under British rule - gained independence in 1979.