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Mali to announce election results Mali leader 'set for re-election'
(about 5 hours later)
Official results are due on Tuesday after presidential elections in Mali. Mali President Amadou Toumani Toure looks set to win a second five-year term, with partial poll results showing him well ahead of his main rival.
President Amadou Toumani Toure - who is seeking a second and final five-year term - was seen as a clear favourite. The electoral authorities say they will announce the full results on Tuesday.
Although officially running as an independent, Mr Toure, known as "ATT", was backed by more than 30 parties in Sunday's poll. International election monitors said the election appeared to have gone smoothly with no reports of unrest.
Opposition candidates say the voters' list favours the incumbent, accusing Mr Toure's supporters of using state assets to fund his electoral campaign. But opposition candidates alleged fraud, saying voters' lists favoured Mr Toure and accusing his supporters of using state assets for his campaign.
The strongest opposition challenger is Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the president of Mali's national assembly and former prime minister who came third in the 2002 poll. Results from 64 of the country's 703 districts showed Mr Toure was ahead of his main challenger, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, with 61.3% of the vote.
Cotton farmers Mr Keita, who is trailing Mr Toure with 29.8% of the vote, is the president of Mali's National Assembly and a former prime minister who came third in the 2002 presidential poll.
There were no reports of any violence during the polls. 'Overwhelming score'
"All has gone well, according to what our teams have observed - no incident has been reported," former Haiti Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who is heading the OIF organisation of French-speaking countries' team of observers, told the AFP news agency. Announcing the partial results on Monday, a spokesman for the Ministry of Territorial Administration said Mr Toure was on course to win.
Mali leader's life in pictures Part of Mr Toure's popularity stems from the fact that he played a leading role in ending military dictatorship with a coup 16 years ago, says BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross. Mali leader's life in pictures
"From what has been counted so far, the president has a majority," Oumar Sangare said.
In the capital, Bamako, the president had so far won 54.2% of the vote and Mr Keita 38.8%, Mr Sangare said.
Earlier, Mr Toure's spokesman, Hassan Barry, claimed the president had been re-elected.
"The curve is very clearly in favour of our candidate¿ who is largely ahead, according to the first results sent to us by our representatives at the counting centres," Hassan Barry said.
"In view of these results, he will be elected in the first round with an overwhelming score."
If no candidate wins 50% of the vote in the first round, the two top candidates will compete in a run-off on 13 May.
Mr Toure, known as "ATT", played a leading role in ending Mali's military dictatorship with a coup 16 years ago.
He then organised elections in 1992 and handed power over to the winner, Alpha Oumar Konare.He then organised elections in 1992 and handed power over to the winner, Alpha Oumar Konare.
Mr Toure was elected president in 2002, after Mr Konare had served two terms.Mr Toure was elected president in 2002, after Mr Konare had served two terms.
Turnout was expected to be low as more than a third of voters did not pick up their registration cards.
Taxi driver Camara said voting "serves no purpose... because democracy is now well established in this country."
Mali is Africa's third largest gold producer but the vast majority of the country's 14 million people live off the land, our correspondent says.
The plight of the cotton farmers had been a key election issue, he says.
Analysts hope the elections will go some way to boost democracy in the region, especially after the widely criticised polls in Nigeria, our correspondent says.
One African human rights organisation has said that democracy seems to be losing steam.
If no candidate gets an absolute majority in the first round, the two top candidates will compete in a run-off in two weeks' time.