Mr Sarkisian had gained 52.7% of the vote, with his nearest rival Levon Ter-Petrosian lagging on 21.5%.

By early Wednesday, 97.5% of votes had been counted, according to official results given on Armenian public TV.

But Mr Ter-Petrosian alleges widespread vote-rigging, and has called a rally in the capital, Yerevan.

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'Violations'

If the early results prove accurate, Mr Sarkisian will have broken the 50% barrier required to avoid the need for a second-round of voting.

Turnout was estimated at nearly 70% of 2.3m eligible voters.

Mr Sarkisian is a close ally of the outgoing Armenian President, Robert Kocharian, and the election was initially expected to be a smooth handover of power from Mr Kocharian to Mr Sarkisian.

But Mr Ter-Petrosian - a former president - surprised onlookers with a lively and outspoken campaign, and now insists he is the real winner.

"The first president of Armenia won in the first round. We would like to congratulate citizens with that victory," his spokesman Arman Musinyan said, according to Reuters news agency.

"There were very serious violations during voting, including ballot-stuffing, kidnapping and the beating of our representatives at the polling stations," he said.

Strategic

The Armenian authorities have strongly denied manipulating the election process.

Although small, the former Soviet republic is regarded as strategically important - lying between the energy-rich Caspian Sea and the gas and oil markets of southern Europe.

Correspondents say the main issues for Armenians are tackling unemployment and resolving long-running disputes with neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan, both of which have closed their borders with Armenia.

(BBC)

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