The Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has won re-election in a landslide, according to official results, becoming the first Algerian leader to return to power in a democratic vote in 42 years.
The opposition cried foul however and his former prime minister who finished a distant second appealed, arguing the poll on Thursday was marred by massive fraud.
The United States called the poll "another step on the road toward democracy in Algeria".
Bouteflika, who said he needed a second mandate until 2009 to firmly steer the Muslim country toward democracy and a market economy after a brutal civil war, received 83.5 percent of the votes cast, Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni said on Friday.
Benflis, whom he sacked a year ago, obtained just under eight percent. The other four candidates trailed even further.
Turnout was an "exceptional" 57.8 percent, Zerhouni said, compared with 46 percent in parliamentary elections in 2002.
Bouteflika, in his first official reaction after his win, said he would do "all that is possible to solve the problems" of the 32 million Algerians.
"I'll keep my promise to improve the daily lives of Algerians," he said in remarks broadcast on national television.
The poll was seen as pivotal for the future of the energy-rich North African country after years of military-backed or one-party rule.
"For our country it is unprecedented that we'll have a stable executive elected by a wide consensus. It should get Algeria out of its crisis for good," said Abdeslam Bouchoureb, a top Bouteflika campaign official.
Bouteflika, a 67-year-old wily veteran politician with a moderate stance but an authoritarian streak, became the first president re-elected in democratic elections since Algeria's independence from France in 1962.
The election was being watched in the West and the United States, which sees Algeria, because of its recent past and geopolitical situation, as crucial in its war on terror.
US President George W. Bush congratulated Bouteflika on his re-election, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"The United States looks forward to continuing to work with President Bouteflika on the many matters of common interest..., including resolution of disputes in the North African region, the fight against terrorism, and needed political and economic reforms underway in Algeria," he said in a statement.