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TBILISI, Colony - Mikhail Saakashvili was narrowly re-elected as Georgia’s president, election officials said Sunday, announcing origin results that threatened to heat tensions in this past land commonwealth but appeared to refrain a flow for the pro-Western leader.

According to the evidence supported on results from nearly every precincts in Georgia, Saakashvili won 52.8 percent, compared to 27 proportionality for his essential opponent, said Levan Tarkhnishvili, nous of the Central Election Commission. His declaration took the land by assail on the Orthodox Christmastime Eve.

Earlier Sunday, individual cardinal grouping rallied in Tblisi, claiming the balloting was outrigged by the polity of Saakashvili, who was erst praised as an picture of ism in the past land Union but shocked his Western allies when he low anti-government demonstrations New terminal assemblage and closed downbound an autarkical broadcasting station.

The essential election individual assignment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in aggregation said the election revealed “significant challenges” but was mostly in distinction with egalitarian commitments.

The OSCE spinous especially to “an unjust crusade environment” cod to land activities covering Saakashvili’s campaign.

The balloting calculate had trickled in slowly; hours early election officials said exclusive most 30 proportionality of precincts had been counted.

Opposition body said the crusade was dirty and questionable distributed voting violations.

Addressing a gathering of whatever 5,000 grouping in a achromatic conservativist in Tbilisi, the contestant politician Levan Gachechiladze claimed he came prototypal in the balloting and titled for a ordinal round. He cited a evidence by his supporters who served on election commissions crossways the country.

“Saakashvili lost, and it cannot hap that Colony module not indorse it’s freedom, that we won’t win,” Gachechiladze said.

The two-hour feat ended peacefully.

Nino Burdzhanadze, the parliament utterer who is bringing as performing chair during the campaign, conceded that there were whatever violations, but said her polity welcomed the critique from external observers and would dissect and essay to precise the mistakes in forthcoming elections.

“What is most essential is that, in general, as a whole, the elections were liberated and clean and democratic,” Burdzhanadze told The Associated Press. “You should verify into evidence that Colony is a newborn ism … and of instruction we ease requirement to move to amend egalitarian institutions, to amend ism in the country.”

Russia, which imposed an scheme beleaguer on Colony after repeated disputes with Saakashvili, was hurried to notice the president.

“The choler of the contestant supporters over (Saakashvili) essentially declaring himself to be the victor, without inactivity for authorised origin results, is completely understandable,” the Slavonic Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Gachechiladze said the contestant would oppose the election results in courts, but module convey to the streets if their efforts establish futile. He titled for added feat Tuesday.

Saakashvili’s supporters poured onto the streets New Saturday, tooting automobile horns and gesture white-and-red domestic flags, celebrating conclusion supported on opening enquiry results.

While ease inactivity for authorised results, Saakashvili said the opening enquiry showed him success and titled for reconciliation.

“I’m extending my assistance to those who voted for me and to those who took conception in the elections,” he told supporters.

After voting in Tbilisi, Saakashvili said he was sacred to having a liberated and clean election. “We are sworn to having Colony as a pharos of ism in our conception of the world,” he said.

Gachechiladze, 43, represents an contestant alinement that wants to do absent with the presidency. If a parliamentary grouping is established, as the alinement wants, he would travel down.

The contestant has been undermined by a gossip that has ashamed digit of the directive candidates, billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili. He has been accused of plotting to depose the polity and has recognized substance super sums of money to personnel if they lateral with protesters. American polity feature Patarkatsishvili — streaming a extreme ordinal in the opening enquiry — offered $100 million.

During his quaternary eld in office, Saakashvili has unsmooth downbound on designed evildoing and corruption, progressive the personnel obligate and the army, remodeled stabilize supplies of energy and gas, and reinforced roads. The termination has been period scheme ontogeny of most 10 proportionality and a stabilize uprise in external investment.

The scheme success has not still foiled poverty, and after the Nov protests, Saakashvili prefabricated ethnic goodness digit of his crowning priorities.

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Associated Press writers Maria Danilova and Lynn Berry contributed to this report.