Armenians vote for President

Armenians voted yesterday in a presidential election that Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, given credit for rising living standards, is expected to win. A leading opposition challenger alleged there had been voting irregularities. The opposition has promised mass protests in the capital if they conclude the authorities have rigged the election in Mr Sarksyan's favour.

Polling stations closed at 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) in the country of 3.2 million people and the first results are expected today.

Opinion polls give Mr Sarksyan, an ally of outgoing President Robert Kocharyan, more than 50 per cent support. Most observers predict that if Mr Sarksyan is elected, his rule will be broadly a continuation of Mr Kocharyan's decade in office.

Armenia is squeezed between Turkey and Azerbaijan in a region that is emerging as an important transit route for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to European and world markets.

Armenia is still officially at war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The country has frosty relations with Turkey, in part because of a bitter dispute over the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.