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Aliyev claims Azeri poll victory Aliyev re-elected in Azerbaijan
(about 3 hours later)
Supporters of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev say he has won a second five-year term, in a poll boycotted by the main opposition parties. Ilham Aliyev has won a second term as president of Azerbaijan with 89% of the vote, according to official results from 70% of the polling stations.
Exit polls suggested Mr Aliyev had gained more than 80% of the vote, defeating six remaining rivals. Six other candidates stood in the ballot which was boycotted by the main opposition parties in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
First results from the poll are due later on Wednesday. Officials deny opposition claims that restrictions prevented them competing in a democratic campaign.
Government officials deny opposition claims that it did not have a chance to compete in a democratic campaign because of restrictions. Mr Aliyev succeeded his late father Heydar in the 2003 election.
They installed web cameras at some polling stations to allow people to monitor events on the internet.
Some 400 observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitored the poll in the energy-rich country.Some 400 observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitored the poll in the energy-rich country.
Mr Aliyev came to power in the 2003 election, taking over from his late father Heydar - an autocratic ruler who was himself president for 10 years, the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in Baku says. The turnout in the country of 8.5 million people appeared to be between 75 and 77%.
Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas and it is home to the only existing pipeline that flows Caspian oil to Europe via Georgia and Turkey, bypassing Russia. 'Sham election'
But the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia has raised fears that this supply might come under threat, our correspondent says. At the beginning of the presidential campaign, Mr Aliyev ordered all of his portraits to be removed from public places and the only image which could be seen on election day was his electoral poster, the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie reports from Baku.
But posters with the images of the other six candidates were nowhere to be seen, our correspondent says. The six were not widely known and many people found it difficult to name them.
Isa Gambar, an opposition leader who came second in the 2003 presidential vote but boycotted this ballot, denounced the election as a farce.
"This is a just an imitation of an election by Ilham Aliyev's regime," he told AFP news agency.
"All of the real opposition parties and all the people who support real democracy in Azerbaijan are boycotting this election."