Burundi's largest former Hutu rebel group has won an overwhelming victory in elections for a new post-war senate.
The nation's electoral commission said shortly after polls closed Friday that provisional results show the Hutu-led Forces for the Defense of Democracy, FDD, captured 28 out of 41 senate seats
The FDD's closest rival, the mainstream Hutu-led Front for Democracy, took three seats. A third Hutu-led party won one seat. Two remaining seats have not yet been declared. In addition, three senators will come from the ethnic Twa group, while four former presidents each get seats.
To ensure ethnic balance in the Senate, thousands of local representatives cast ballots for one Hutu and one Tutsi representative from each of the Burundi's districts.
Next month, Burundi's National Assembly will vote for a new president, widely expected to be former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.