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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kyrgyz president ahead

Associated Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Election officials in Kyrgyzstan said early today that partial results from the presidential election give incumbent Kurmanbek Bakiyev an overwhelming lead of around 90 percent of votes counted.

The Central Election Commission released the results based on returns from more than one-quarter of the 2,330 polling stations in this mountainous Central Asian nation.

The main opposition candidate, Almazbek Atambayev, has dismissed Thursday’s election as fraudulent and called for a rerun.

The dispute over the election has set the stage for nationwide protests in Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a U.S. air base crucial to operations in Afghanistan.