Chad junta chief officially wins election

N'DJAMENA, CHAD - Chad's junta leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno won the 6 May presidential election with 61% of the vote, according to final results announced by the Constitutional Council Thursday.

The court rejected his rival Prime Minister Succes Masra's bid to annul the result which he launched after claiming victory in the vote.

Masra came second with 18.54%, while former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke won 16.93%, Constitutional Council president Jean-Bernard Padare said.

Masra, once a fierce Deby opponent before becoming prime minister four months ago, has accused the junta chief's team of rigging the results and called on his supporters to "mobilise peacefully".

The regime has long muzzled opposition figures and Deby's main rival and cousin Yaya Dillo Djerou was killed in February.

International human rights groups had said the election would be neither credible nor fair.

Deby was proclaimed transitional president three years ago by his fellow generals after his father, iron-fisted president Idriss Deby Itno, was killed by rebels after 30 years in power.

The final results are very close to the provisional results, announced by election officials on 9 May.