The elections in Mauritania

Challenger's campaign manager arrested - tense after election

Defeated challenger Biram Dah Abeid accuses re-elected Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of electoral fraud as vote counting ends on Sunday, AFP reports.

He received 22 percent of the vote to Ghazouani's 56 and claimed the electoral commission had given his rival votes "out of nowhere". Abeid's campaign manager Yacoub Ahmed Lemrabott and two others were reportedly arrested by police on Sunday and have not been heard from since, campaign sources told the Senegalese-Mauritanian news site Senalioune.

Abeid called on his constituents for peaceful demonstrations, but in several cities youths burned car tires in the streets. They were met by police with tear gas, writes the Mauritanian news site Cridem. 

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Mauritania's president re-elected – promises to invest in young people

Mauritania's incumbent President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has been re-elected with 56 percent of the vote after a peaceful election, reports AFP. He has promised stability, growth and partnership with the West.

- I don't know how to express my joy, says 56-year-old voter Bekouma Mohamed to AFP.

Despite accusations of corruption and mismanagement, former army chief Ghazouani is popular among Mauritanians, who see him as a guarantor of stability, according to the AP. 60 percent of the population lives in poverty in the country, which is rich in natural resources such as copper, zinc, gold and oil.

The challenger Biram Dah Abeid, who received 22 percent, accuses Ghazouani of electoral fraud, AP writes. The votes must be reviewed by the Constitutional Court within 48 hours.
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