DAKAR, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Guinea-Bissau President Kumba Yala formally accepted here on Monday presidential election results that disqualified him for the run-off of the presidential election in his country.

    "I won these elections but in the interest of democracy, of peace, I accept the results," said Yala in a speech in this Senegalese capital after talks with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.

    The electoral commission of Guinea-Bissau published on Saturday the official results of the June 19 presidential poll, which showed former parliament speaker Malam Bacai Sanha won 35 percent of the votes, former ruler Joao Bernardo Vieira, 28 percent, and Yala, 25 percent.

    By law, as no candidate won an outright majority, a run-off shall be held between the first two candidates 21 days after the publication of the first-round results.

    Yala had refused to accept the results, calling them false. His supporters marched through the capital Bissau on Friday and clashed with the authorities in which three were killed, six injured and about 50 arrested.

    Yala, 52, was elected president in 2000, but was ousted in a 2003 coup. He proclaimed himself president in May this year and had occupied the presidential palace for hours with his supporters on May 25.

    Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, is one of the least developed countries in the world. The West African country has witnessed several coups since its independence in 1974. Enditem