Ibrahim Boubacar Keita picked up 67.17% of Sunday’s vote against 32.83% for opposition challenger and former finance minister Soumaila Cisse

Soumaila Cisse: ‘We have a large lead. We do not accept that our voice is stolen. This is why there are results we will not accept’

On the eve of voting, authorities said they had disrupted a plot to carry out "targeted attacks" in the capital Bamako

After the July 29 first-round vote the pool of candidates was reduced from 24 to two

In the north and centre of the country — shaken by jihadist violence and lawlessness — tension has been sharpened by the vote

On August 12, incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will face Soumaila Cisse in a runoff vote, in a repeat of the 2013 poll

Not a single ballot was cast at 716 of the polling stations in two regions following threats and attacks by armed groups

Despite the ever-present threat of conflict and violence, the country can be proud of its fragile stability

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, an ex-prime minister with a reputation for firmness, has won Mali’s presidential election.

Sources say Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has surged ahead of Soumaila Cissé after two thirds of votes in Mali’s second round of elections were counted.

Mali’s presidential election will go to a second round on August 11, after no candidate secured a majority in the landmark poll.