Joseph Kabila gained most of his support in eastern areas
The recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo were "seriously flawed", the US has warned as it called for a review of the process.
Official results gave President Joseph Kabila 49% of the vote against 32% for opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi.The results' credibility has been criticised by the EU and the Carter Center but the AU said the polls were a success.
The US said there had been several "irregularities".
"The United States believes that the management and technical execution of these elections were seriously flawed," the US ambassador to DR Congo, James Entwistle, said.
"[They] lacked transparency and did not measure up to the positive democratic gains we have seen in recent African elections," he said.
Mr Entwistle said that the US and other Western donors were offering technical assistance to the Congolese to review irregularities identified by observer missions, an offer which has already been welcomed by the country's prime minister, he said.
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Who is Joseph Kabila?
- 40 years old
- Born in a rebel camp in eastern DR Congo - where he enjoys most of his support
- Spent his childhood in Tanzania
- His father, Laurent Kabila, overthrew long-time ruler Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997
- He first became president after his father's assassination in 2001
- Oversaw the signing of a peace accord in 2002 to end a five-year conflict involving several other nations
- Became DR Congo's first freely elected leader in 2006, winning a run-off poll with 58% of the vote
- His campaign slogan was: "Five building sites of the republic"
- Shies away from public speaking
- Married, has two children
The country's Supreme Court must decide by 17 December whether or not to validate provisional results.
Mr Tshisekedi rejected the result and has declared himself president. President Kabila has rejected claims that he won elections through widespread rigging but admitted that "mistakes" had been made.
The African Union (AU) and several regional bodies - including the Southern African Development Community - said the polls had been "successful" and disputes should be resolved through legal means.
In a statement earlier this week, the Carter Center, which had 26 teams of observers monitoring the elections, pointed to differences in the vote count between areas where Mr Kabila had strong support and areas that favoured Mr Tshisekedi.
Some constituencies in Katanga province "reported impossibly high rates of 99 to 100% voter turnout with all, or nearly all, votes going to incumbent President Joseph Kabila", the Center said.
Meanwhile in Kinshasa, where Mr Tshisekedi has strong support, results from nearly 2,000 polling station stations were lost - roughly a fifth of the city's total.
The elections are the first Congolese-organised polls since the end of a devastating war in 2003 which left millions dead.
An earlier poll in 2006 was organised under the auspices of the United Nations.
Mr Kabila has been president since 2001 following the assassination of his father, Laurent and he is due to be sworn in on 20 December for his second term if his victory is confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Source: BBC News, 15 December 2011 Last updated at 12:13 GMT
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