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Ex-minister, Abdallahi, wins Mauritania's presidential poll
IN a contest believed to be the country's fairest since independence in 1960, a former cabinet minister has emerged as winner of Mauritania's presidential election.
The election capped the restoration of civilian rule after a 2005 coup, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The military junta of the former French colony was banned from contesting.
Previous elections were dismissed as being rigged in favour of the ruling party candidates.
Abdallahi, 68, is supported by a coalition of 18 groups previously loyal to the regime of the ousted authoritarian leader, President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya.
He was also backed by the third- and fourth-placed candidates from the first round and a leading anti-slavery campaigner.
The BBC's Richard Hamilton says he was also seen as the army's favourite candidate.
Daddah, 65, an economist and brother of Mauritania's first post-independence leader, unsuccessfully ran against Taya in 1992 and 2003.
The ballot, in which 1.1 million people were eligible to vote, marks the final stage of a programme to restore civilian rule.
Abdallahi gained most votes in the first round two weeks ago but failed to get the 50 per cent needed for victory.
Interior ministry officials put voters' turnout at about 60 per cent - slightly down on the first round.
Both candidates are members of the so-called White Moor elite and spent time in prison under previous military rulers.
They both pledged tough measures against slavery, which was banned in 1981 but which still persists.
Mauritania is an ethnically diverse mix of Arabic-speaking Moors and black Africans.
The large Black Moor population are current and former slaves of the fairer-skinned ruling elite, the White Moors.
Abdallahi pledged "special legislation" criminalising slavery while his rival, Daddah, promised compensation for slaves and penalties for law-breakers.
Taya was deposed by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, whose military council took power in August 2005.
Abdallahi now has to raise living standards in one of the world's poorest countries.
Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, 68, was a minister under the former autocratic President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya, but has since done his best to distance himself from that era.
In this election, he stood as an independent candidate but was widely seen to have the backing of the army.
The military council that stood down before these historic elections did not offer any of their own candidates but this is their next best option.
Many people will be surprised that Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi beat Ahmed Ould Daddah, who was widely considered to be the favourite.
Ahmed Ould Daddah was also the brother of Mokhtar Ould Daddah - Mauritania's first president and founding father of the nation.
With a name and pedigree like that, it was going to be hard to beat.
With newly-discovered oil wealth, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi's priority should be to deliver growth and prosperity to what has been one of the poorest nations on earth.
Another will be to strive for national unity in a country whose complex population mix of Arabs and sub-Saharan Africans has caused conflict in the past.
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