Togo president wins disputed election

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe has been re-elected, defeating his opposition rival who also claimed victory and alleged irregularities in the voting process.

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe has been re-elected, winning a total of 1,243,044 votes and defeating his opposition rival, Jean-Pierre Fabre, the electoral agency chief announced.

Son of the late dictator of the country, Gnassingbe clinched 60.9 per cent of the total vote cast, the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Issifou Taffa Tabiou, said on Saturday.

Fabre, an economist and candidate of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) party, received 692,584 votes or 33.94 per cent of the votes cast

He claimed irregularities in vote counting, and said a lack of vote validation meant the count was 'illegal', reported the BBC.

A total of 2,040,546 votes were cast during the election, held on Thursday.

In third position was former prime minister Yawovi Agboyibo, who garnered 2.96 per cent of the votes, CENI said.

"These results will be transmitted to the constitutional court within eight days. An appeal can be filed," Tabious said. The victory must be approved by the court.

A total of 64.68 per cent of some 3.2 million registered voters took part in the exercise, which was staged peacefully, he said.

Gnassingbe, the 43-year-old son of former leader Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled with an iron hand for 38 years until his death in 2005, has been in office since the same year when he was elected in a disputed vote.

Ahead of the announcement of the final poll results, riot police took to the streets of Lome and security forces dispersed opposition supporters with teargas.

Police in anti-riot gear and gendarmes fanned out across the seaside capital, setting up barricades at strategic points, and the city's usually crowded streets were deserted and businesses closed.