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BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) - Burundi's former main rebel group claimed victory Sunday in elections that will determine the makeup of parliament's upper chamber, but authorities ordered repeat balloting in five areas hit by violence that killed one person.
The Forces for the Defense of Democracy, from the ethnic Hutu majority, won about 65 percent of the 3,225 seats up for grabs in Friday's balloting, spokesman Jeremie Ngendakumana said, citing returns filed by the party's election monitors, independent observers and local media.
The election — the first since civil war began in 1993 — was considered a key test for democracy in the tiny central African country. The local representatives will choose members of the Senate, where Hutus and the Tutsi minority are expected to be equally represented.
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