Former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao has been declared the winner of East Timor's first ever presidential election. 

Mr. Gusmao's long-expected landslide victory was made official Wednesday when election officials announced he had won more than 80-percent of the votes cast on Sunday. His sole challenger, Francisco Xavier do Amaral, took about 17-percent. 

Speaking to reporters, the 55-year old Mr. Gusmao - who ran on a platform of national reconciliation - promised to be a president for all the people of East Timor. He said the next five years will constitute a "great challenge." 

Officials say more than 375,000 East Timorese voted in Sunday's election, held just weeks before East Timor is due to achieve full independence from Indonesia. 

The United Nations has administered East Timor since 1999, when residents of the territory voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum. After that vote, rogue Indonesian troops and militiamen went on a rampage of murder and destruction that ended only when international peacekeepers arrived. 

East Timor is set to become the world's newest country on May 20, when the U.N. administration hands over control to the local government. 

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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