Mauritania's constitutional court confirmed on Thursday Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as winner of the weekend's presidential election, rejecting an appeal from some losing candidates that the vote had been fraudulent.

Abdel Aziz, who led a military coup last August, won 52.6 percent of the vote, which had been intended to restore constitutional rule and with it, donor and investor confidence in the Saharan Islamic state, which produces iron ore and oil.

Earlier this week, unsuccessful contenders Ahmed Oul Daddah, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir and Ely Ould Mohamed Vall appealed to the court to annul the result, presenting evidence they claimed would prove the vote was not conducted fairly.

"The Constitutional Court has decided that the claims made do not contain any concrete element that can attest to irregularities," Taki Ould Sidi, a member of the court, told a news conference.

"Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was elected by absolute majority and therefore in accordance with the constitution he is President," he said.

Abdel Aziz was a presidential guardsman when he led an army-backed overthrow of Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the first democratically elected leader in a country where military strongmen had long held power.

--reuters--