Sudan's Bashir reelected with 94 percent of vote

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was re-elected with more than 94 percent of the vote, results showed Monday, despite international war crimes charges and a poll marred by low turnout and an opposition boycott.

The opposition rejected the result as a "joke" after the electoral commission announced the figures securing another five-year term for Bashir, 71, after the election held earlier this month.

National Electoral Commission chief Mokhtar al-Asam announced Bashir's victory to a Khartoum news conference to cries of "Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest) from the long-serving president's supporters.

Only little-known candidates had run against Bashir, and his closest competitor -- Fadl el-Sayed Shuiab of the Federal Truth Party -- took just 1.43 percent of the vote.

Bashir's ruling National Congress Party also dominated results in a simultaneous parliamentary election, taking 323 of 426 seats.

The elections took place over four days from April 13, with voting extended by a day after turnout appeared minimal. Asam said the participation rate was more than 46 percent.

Western governments criticised the elections, which were held amid deepening economic woes and conflicts in the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, where the UN says more than 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced.

Norway, the United States and Britain slammed Sudan for its "failure to create a free, fair and conducive elections environment", while the European Union said the vote could not produce a "credible" result because of Bashir's failure to engage the opposition in national dialogue talks he promised last year.

"We do not consider the outcome of these elections to be a credible expression of the will of the Sudanese people," said US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke. AFP