Egypt awaits presidential election results!

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo: ''Both sides are very nervous about the outcome''

Egyptians are awaiting the delayed results of the presidential run-off election held earlier this month.

The results are due in the coming hours, after the election commission heard appeals by the two candidates.

Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq have both claimed victory and vowed to form unity governments.

Supporters of both men have been demonstrating in recent days amid increasing political polarisation.

On Friday, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf) called on supporters of both candidates to accept the result.

Egypt awaits this election result, nervous about the consequences, and with opinion deeply polarised. The Muslim Brotherhood are convinced that their candidate, Mohammed Mursi, is the winner. They've produced documents they say prove it. And if the result does not confirm it, they will believe the election has been stolen from them.
The former Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, also claims victory. His supporters blame international media, and even Western governments, for wanting to hand victory to the Brotherhood. They warn of the dire consequences if Islamists take control.
Whoever wins will make history as the first democratically elected leader in Egypt's history. They face a massive challenge, to unite the country and get it back to business.

Results from last weekend's run-off election were originally due out on Thursday.

The election commission has said that it will announce the official results by 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Muslim Brotherhood supporters are maintaining a vigil in Tahrir Square where on Friday tens of thousands of protesters gathered to denounce a move last week by Egypt's ruling generals to seize sweeping powers.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in the capital, Cairo, says there are fears that in the current atmosphere, the final announcement might only make matters worse.

A pro-Ahmed Shafiq demonstration also took place on Saturday in the Nasr City neighbourhood of Cairo.

"When we decided to take to the streets, we're not just one, two or three million, we're 80 million. The only difference is that we're waiting for the military council to give its final word," one Shafiq supporter, Doaa, told the Reuters news agency.

Hundreds of supporters held up pictures of Mr Shafiq and of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, whilst chanting slogans in support of the army and against the Brotherhood.

Last weekend, the military dissolved parliament and claimed legislative power in a sweeping constitutional amendment.

"The military must leave its political role and go back to its basic role which is protecting the country, not continuing to ruin the country and people's affairs - this will not be accepted by the Egyptian people," Abdel Nasser Hijab, a demonstrator in Tahrir Square, told the AP news agency.

Correspondents say that there was less enthusiasm in the run-off election than there was for previous rounds of voting, and some called for a boycott or spoiled ballots.

Mr Mursi has secured the support of several leading liberal figures in Egypt, including activist Wael Ghoneim, who played a key role in the January 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak's rule.

Mr Shafiq came second to Mr Mursi in last month's first round, in which turnout among the 52 million eligible voters was only 46%.

But the former air force commander, who served briefly as former President Mubarak's last prime minister, said on Thursday at his first public appearance since the run-off that he was confident of victory.

Our correspondent reports that opponents of the Brotherhood are now running a concerted campaign to discredit its claim that Mr Mursi won the run-off.

Media sympathetic to Mr Shafiq and the Scaf have begun to demonise the Brotherhood, our correspondent says.