A former prime minister and a veteran opposition campaigner are to face off on 18 July, when Guinea's presidential election goes to a second round.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, an economist by training, won 39.72 per cent of votes in the first round, according to the electoral commission, while Alpha Condé won 20.67 per cent.
Third-placed candidate in the country's first democratic election Sidya Touré, another former prime minister, won 15.6 per cent.
Turnout was 77 per cent, according to the Independent National Election Commission, with 3.3 million people voting.
Twenty out of 24 candidates failed to get over five per cent, with late-president Lansana Conté's party, the Unity and Progress Party (PUP), failing badly.
Despite relief at the vote not being marred by violence, the majority of candidates have claimed there was widespread fraud. The Supreme Court still receive complaints for eight days from Saturday and will rule on them after a further three days.
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Much of the voting was along ethnic lines, according to RFI's correspondents in Guinea. But tactical voting meant that some members of smaller groups rallied behind the leading candidates.
Condé fought off attempts by three rivals to eat at his support base, while Sidya Touré, who is a Diahanké, failed to win votes he needed from all ethnic groups but has gathered enough to be able to bargain with both candidates for the transfer of his support, they say.
Two candidates in 18 July run-off
Two candidates will face each other on 18 July in the second and final round of Guinea's presidential election.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, 58, was prime minister several times under General Lansana Conté, who ruled for 24 years after coming to power in a military coup in 1984; he is a member of the Fulani ethnic group; his strongholds are middle-Guinea and the capital, Conakry.
Alpha Condé, 73, is a third-time candidate who has opposed all three heads of state since independence, spending two and a half years in jail under Conté and sentenced to death in absentia by first president Ahmed Sekou Touré in 1970; he is a member of the Malinké ethnic group; his stronghold is Upper Guinea.
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i will also like to contribute on your website as a praticeing journalist in sierra leone west africa.sierra leone makes very iportant news that needs to be shered with the rest of the world.
I will like to commend the Guinean people on their stand against military despotism. Their sacrifice will go a long way in nailing the coffin on military coups that have strangled developments in the continent of Africa.Control of politics in the Mano River Union will once again revert to politicians, where it rightfully belongs. Politicians must be allowed to fail, and maybe learn something worthwhile from the fall. The next generation of politicians will learn from the shortcomings of their predecessors. Can you imagine just walking without ever crawling first!! I am not trying to make excuses for incompetent politicians. Most of them should never have been in politics. However, we deal with what we have, which in many cases are a shameful lot. It takes time to build a strong political tradition. Rome was not built in a day.
Ibrahim Jalloh aka BJ