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Reuters
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon's top court has rejected an appeal by opposition parties to annul the results of last weekend's presidential election, throwing out their complaints that the vote was rigged by incumbent leader Paul Biya.


Official results will be released on Friday, the court added in a statement late on Wednesday. Preliminary results showed Biya with 77 percent of the votes, with his main rival John Fru Ndi in second place with 10 percent.

"I am not surprised by what happened," said Garga Haman Adji, leader of the opposition ADD party, who took third place in the election, adding he thought the court was influenced by Biya's ruling party.

Seven opposition candidates who took part in the poll asked the Supreme Court on Monday to throw out the October 9 poll results and call a new election, citing fraud and warning of protests if their demands were not met.

Biya, 78, who has ruled the country for nearly 30 years, acknowledged there may have been "imperfections" in the staging of the election, but denied fraud.

Cameroon is the world's fifth-largest cocoa producer and the region's breadbasket, supplying food to Chad, Central African Republic, Congo Republic and Gabon.

The Central African country's economic growth has underperformed some of its neighbours and the local media and opposition have criticised Biya for allowing corruption, red tape and nepotism to fester.