Rebel leader sweeps vote in South Ossetia

Agence France-Presse

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Yedinstvo (Unity) won almost half the votes in the legislative elections, nine months after Russia and Georgia fought a war over the status of South Ossetia that plunged Moscow's ties with the West to a post-Cold War low.

It is the party most vocally supportive of strongman leader Eduard Kokoity, a former wrestling champion accused by his critics of muzzling opponents and stealing aid money sent from Russia. The mountainous Caucasus region -- still largely in ruins and only recognized as independent by Moscow and distant Nicaragua -- remains a major sticking point in relations between Russia and the West.

"The EU does not accept the legality of the 'elections', nor its results," the bloc's presidency, currently held by the Czech Republic, said in a statement. "The holding of such elections is illegitimate and represents a setback in the search for a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia," it added.

Final results issued by the election commission of the South Ossetian separatist government after Sunday's elections said Yedinstvo (Unity) was the clear winner after polling 46.36 percent.