Hi,

Here's something else from the BBC.

Regards.

Kabir.


Senegal votes for change

Senegalese President Abdou Diouf has conceded defeat as the results of
Sunday's presidential election come in.
The news has resulted in jubilation in the capital Dakar, where people
cheered and motorists blared their horns to celebrate.

This is a day of liberation. It is the dawn of a new era, and that is the
most important thing.

Mr Wade's victory ends 40 years of uninterrupted rule by Mr Diouf's
Socialist Party.
"The President telephoned Mr Wade, the elected president of the republic, on
Monday morning to congratulate warmly him on his victory," a statement from
the Presidency said.

The statement which was read on a local FM station also further extended
wishes of good will to Mr Wade "in this noble and exalting task at the
service of the Senegalese people as a whole".

Mr Wade, who is 74 years old, received the backing of the five leading
opposition candidates, in an electoral deal that will give the job of prime
minister to the third placed candidate, Moustapha Niasse.
Early confidence

Soon after the polls closed on Sunday, thousands of very confident Wade
supporters gathered around his house to begin their celebrations.

Mr Wade himself was almost certain of victory, even before the results
started coming in.

It is another Senegal that is coming to life today

  "Today is a day of joy. You know, it is the end that explains what
preceded a process. I have been striving for 20 years. And today, I am very
happy by the fact that what seemed impossible is now a reality," he told
reporters.
The newly-elected president first ran for the presidency in 1978 against
ex-President Leopold Senghor.

This was his fifth attempt at the presidency.
"It is another Senegal that is coming to life today and I am very happy to
know that when I leave this earth, I would leave another Senegal different
from the one we knew. For me, the past is behind me. I am putting a cross on
the past," Mr Wade said on Sunday.

A day of liberation

"This is a day of liberation; this is a day of liberation. It is the dawn of
a new era, and that is the most important thing," he proclaimed on Sunday,
as he called on his supporters to prepare for the task ahead.

Mr Wade also explained why he declined to give promises during the election
campaign.

"I am a realistic man and that is why I did not make any promise. If
anything, I promised the Senegalese people a certain number of principles
that should henceforth govern the national life: They are probity, good work
and above all the involvement of the youth in the construction of Senegal,"
he said.

Mr Diouf - who is 64 years old - has been in power for 19 years.

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