Guinea's military dictator narrowly won the country's first presidential election, according to disputed provisional results announced Thurs-day.

Opposition leaders who accuse Gen. Lansana Conte of electoral fraud have demanded Sunday's ballot be annulled. There were no immediate reports of the violence that opposition leaders have warned would result from a victory for Conte.The Interior Ministry said Conte won 50.93 percent of the votes, allowing him to avoid a runoff.

His chief rival, professor Alpha Conde, got 20.85 percent of ballots and five other contenders had negligible scores, according to results that must be confirmed by the Supreme Court next week.

The ministry said more than 78 percent of the 3.2 million registered voters took part. If true, that would indicate few people listened to boycott calls from the splintered opposition.

Militants attacked polling stations on election day, burning down several and fatally stabbing six voters in Conakry, the capital of this West African nation.

View Comments

"This victory was programmed in advance," Conde charged when partial results came in Wednesday. He said irregularities in registering voters and distributing electoral cards prevented a free election.

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.