Mali Election Heads to Run-Off Stage

Still looking good for former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

Mali's presidential election will go to a second round on August 11, with no candidate securing a majority in the landmark poll, the government has said.

Former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita came first in Mali's presidential election on Sunday, but he will face Soumaila Cisse, the former finance minister, in a run-off after he failed to secure an outright majority, the government said on Friday.

Figures for Sunday's ballot announced on live television on Friday showed Keita in the lead with 39.2 percent of Cisse with 19.4 percent.

Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris, reporting from Bamako, said Keita needed to win 50 percent of the vote in the first round to secure an outright win.