Ecuador

The richest man in Ecuador is to face a leftist in a run-off next month after the first round of the presidential election, partial results make clear.

Banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa won slightly more of the vote than Rafael Correa, a left-wing ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The outgoing President, Alfredo Palacio, described the election as a festival of democracy.

Ecuador is electing its eighth leader in a decade of political turbulence.

The partial results show Mr Noboa with a lead of one to two points over Mr Correa, with neither managing to score more than 28% in the 13-candidate race.

The second round will be held on 26 November.

Close race

It looks like being the result most analysts in Ecuador had predicted, the BBC's Daniel Schweimler reports from Quito, but Mr Correa, a 43-year-old economist, was quick to claim fraud and that he had won an outright victory.

Rafael Correa casts his vote

Mr Correa has vowed to challenge the political establishment

He said attempts had been made to bribe his party workers in some areas and that he would be making a formal complaint.

Alvaro Noboa, who at 55 is trying for the third time to become president, said he was pleased with the result and looked forward to the second round.

The two men could not be more different, our correspondent notes.

Mr Noboa inherited his father's banana empire and enjoys much of his support in Ecuador's financial centre, the coastal city of Guayaquil.