Mali president Keita wins re-election in run-off – official results

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won re-election with 67 percent of the vote in a run-off against opposition rival Soumaila Cisse, the Ministry of Territorial Administration said on Thursday. The victory hands Keita a second five-year term in the West African country. Keita is facing the task of lifting Mali out of a spiral of Islamist and ethnic violence in the center and north where attacks worsened in the months leading up to the vote despite the presence of UN and French troops, Reuters said. Threats by jihadist militants forced nearly 500 polling stations - about two percent of the total - to stay closed during Sunday’s run-off.