The head of the European Union’s electoral observation mission in Mali has hailed the second round of the country’s presidential election polls.

Malians voted in a presidential runoff yesterday with former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita the frontrunner in an election which is critical to restoring stability after a military coup and Islamist rebellion last year. The winner will oversee more than $4 billion in foreign aid promised to rebuild the

Malians on Monday awaited the outcome of a presidential election run-off they hope will usher in a new dawn of stability following a military coup which upended one of the region’s most stable democracies.