Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has won an overwhelming majority in the country’s presidential elections.<br /><br />African Union election observers said the vote was held in a climate of relative peace and tolerance.<br /><br />Turnout was 56 percent. Most of the opposition boycotted the election. They claimed that the process was flawed.<br /><br />Abdel Aziz, an ally of Western powers in the fight against al Qaeda linked terrorists in West Africa, received 82 percent of the vote and will serve another five-year term in office.<br /><br />The president’s closest rival, anti-slavery campaigner Biram Ould Dah Abeid, came in a distant second with nine percent of the vote.<br /><br />Abdel Aziz came to power in an army coup in 2008. The following year he won a contested election.
