Sudan gov't says long-time strongman re-elected
KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sudan's Election Commission says President Omar al-Bashir has won re-election with 94 percent of the vote, extending his 25-year rule despite war crimes charges and multiple insurgencies.
The Election Commission puts turnout at 46.4 percent and denies widespread reports of low participation. Mokhtar al-Assam, the head of the commission, announced the results on Monday, saying reports of low turnout were "not accurate."
The four-day vote began April 13. Nearly 13 million people were registered to vote at some 11,000 polling centers. Polling stations in the capital, Khartoum, were largely deserted.
Al-Bashir, who took power in a bloodless Islamist coup in 1989, is the only sitting head of state facing genocide charges at the International Criminal Court. The charges stem from the conflict in Darfur.