Mujica ahead in Uruguayan presidential election

Former guerrilla leader Jose Mujica of the leftist Broad Front party has garnered 50 percent of the vote cast in Uruguay's presidential election, initial results show.

However, the exit poll figures announced by television stations do not make it clear whether there will be a second round or not as more than 50 percent of the vote is needed to avoid a November 29 runoff election.

If the figures match, Mujica, 74, would be the outright winner against former president Luis Lacalle, 68, of the National Party.

A triumph by Mujica, who is popularly known as "Pepe", would mean that resource-rich Uruguay is likely to continue under a markets-minded leftist leader like outgoing President Tabare Vazquez, also of the leftist Broad Front party.

If elected, he would be only the second former guerrilla to take power through the ballot box in Latin America, following Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.

As many as 2.6 million registered voters took to the polls on Sunday to choose a successor to President Vazquez and also elect a new Congress.