Nov 21, 2006, 12:17 GMT
Nouakchott - Veteran Mauritanian opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah claimed overnight that his Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) had won Sunday's parliamentary and municipal elections in the north-west African Islamic republic.
'The RFD is the country's biggest political force,' the moderate technocrat told journalists even before the vote count had finished.
Ould Daddah's comment was the first from a political leader since Mauritania held what are regarded as its first democratic elections since independence from France in 1960.
Ould Daddah was a long-time opponent of President Maaouya Ould Taya, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in August 2005 after 21 years of authoritarian rule.
Mauritania has since been ruled by a military junta, which has pledged to hand power over to civilians through a series of transparent polls, and a transitional government.
Results from some regions indicated that Ould Daddah and another anti-Taya party, the Popular Alliance for Progress (APP) of former slave Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, had made important gains.
The Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal (PRDR), Ould Taya's former party, and independent candidates were also believed to have done well.
An eight-party coalition of parties, most of which oppose Ould Taya's policies, including the RFD and the APP, had won a large majority, two-time presidential candidate Ould Daddah claimed.
The election results, however, were not expected until later on Tuesday.
Ould Daddah concurred with international observers that there had been no significant fraud and praised the junta's 'neutrality' and 'democratic spirit.'
More than a million Mauritanians were eligible to elect a 95- strong parliament and members of 216 municipal councils. Voter turnout was estimated at between 70 and 80 per cent.
Nearly 30 political parties representing a wide spectrum of views as well as numerous independent candidates, including moderate Islamists, contested the elections.
Impoverished Mauritania, which consists mainly of the Sahara desert, is one of Africa's upcoming oil producers, where an Australian-led consortium started extracting oil this year.
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