Final results from Mauritania's electoral commission show former General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz winning more than half of the ballots cast making him president without a second round of voting in which his main political opponents had vowed to unite against him.

VOA: standard.2009.07.19

Before the general election, the Constitution Unit and the Electoral Reform Society set up an independent commission on conducting referendums.

ECONOMIST: Referendums: Umpire required | The

Mr Juppe called on both Mr Cope, the party's secretary general since 2010 and Mr Fillon, prime minister under Mr Sarkozy, to "accept the decision of the electoral commission when it is delivered".

BBC: France UMP vote: Fillon and Cope both claim victory