Observers endorse Gambia election

BANJUL, Gambia -- Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, a former coup commander whose last election was tainted by allegations of fraud, has been declared the winner in elections called free and fair by international observers.

The foreign monitors' endorsement of the vote on Friday was a significant victory for Jammeh, who first seized power in 1994. His first election win in 1996 was disputed and the vote criticised by international monitors.

Gambia's human rights record has drawn steady criticism since then, but the president has won supporters by building new hospitals, schools and the African country's first television station.

Jammeh won nearly 53 percent of the votes cast on Thursday, compared to 32.7 percent for opposition leader Ousainou Darboe, electoral commission chairman Gibril Peters announced, according to The Associated Press.

Three other candidates -- Hamat Bah, Mustapha Dibba and Siddia Jatta -- took the remaining 14.4 percent.

Turnout was high, with nearly 90 percent of the African country's 500,000 registered voters casting ballots, Peters said.

Jammeh's supporters began celebrating in the streets near his official residence hours before the final results were announced. Hundreds of people dressed in the ruling party colours of green and white cheered, whistled, danced and waved flags.

Jammeh did not immediate comment on his win. He had needed at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off.

Darboe also could not immediately be reached for comment, but an aide said he had phoned the president to offer his congratulations.

Aside from a few logistical glitches and late starts, international observers said Thursday's polling went smoothly and no violence was reported.

"Overall, this was a good election," Purno Agitok Sangma, chairman of the observer mission sent by Britain and its former colonies, said in a statement read on state-run television. "The process strengthened democracy."

But the electoral commission's attempt to keep independent radio stations from broadcasting early results raised concerns about transparency, observers said.

Police prohibited the independent radio station Citizen FM from broadcasting the results late on Thursday. No reason was given.

Jammeh, 36, first came to power in a 1994 military coup in which he overthrew Dawda Jawara, accusing him of corruption.

Jawara, Gambia's only other president since independence from Britain in 1965, was banned from running in 1996 elections held under pressure from other countries. The results of that poll were disputed by opposition leaders and international observers.

Gambia, a small country surrounded by Senegal, has a population of about 1.3 million people who are largely dependent on tourism and peanut production.