Accused of Fraud: Aziz Wins Mauritanian Election

General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who led the coup against Mauritania’s first democratically elected leader last August, has won the country’s presidential election, the government confirmed yesterday. Aziz swept 52.4 percent of the vote in the first round. The opposition–some of whom expressed fears about vote rigging before the election–cried foul. His rivals released a statement calling on observers to not validate the results, due to tampering of electoral lists and the use of fake ballot papers and identity cards.