Sudan president wins election, officials say

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir won the country's controversial but historic presidential election with roughly two-thirds of the vote, the National Election Commission said Monday.
The elections were the first in 24 years in the oil-rich African nation, which has been riven by fighting in Darfur and a civil war between north and south.
A top United Nations official in southern Sudan called the voting "a necessary step in moving towards democratic governance in Sudan."
"The fact that it has come this far can seen as a step forward. It is a step forward in the peace agreement" signed in 2005, said David Gressley, UN resident coordinator for southern Sudan.
He confirmed that two supporters of an independent candidate for governor in Unity State were killed in clashes in the state capital Bentiu on Friday. But he said that in general, the post-election period has been relatively quiet.
The United States and other international observers criticized the elections, saying there were irregularities in many parts of the country.
The elections were "an essential step" in the peace process, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement last week.
But there were problems with the process, he said, citing "reports of intimidation and threats of violence in South Sudan, [and the] ongoing conflict in Darfur did not permit an environment conducive to acceptable elections."
Al-Bashir won 68.24 percent of the vote in the presidential race, getting just under 7 million votes, the commission said.