Mali in presidential runoff overshadowed by security crisis

Malians were called to the ballot box today for a presidential runoff likely to see Ibrahim Boubacar Keita return to office despite criticism of his handling of the country's security crisis.

The second round is a rerun of a 2013 faceoff that Keita won by a landslide over former finance minister Soumaila Cisse.

This year's campaign saw fierce attacks on his failure to dampen a wave of jihadist bloodshed and ethnic violence.

But public enthusiasm has been low and the opposition is fractured. Keita, 73, was credited with 41.7 percent of the July 29 first-round vote while Cisse, 68, picked up 17.78 percent.

Cisse insisted on Friday he could turn things around on polling day -- warning the status quo would only bring "chaos" in a "torn nation."
A few hundred Keita supporters gathered late on Friday in the capital of