Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has been ousted in the first round of Greek Cypriot elections. The ballot seen as crucial for efforts to end the island's three-decade division.
As Greek Cypriots voted for change, former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides and communist party chief Demetris Christofias will battle it out in a presidential runoff on 24 February.
The result proved a major upset for Mr Papadopoulos, who was a favourite for re-election in the opinion polls. He campaigned on a hardline stance on the Cyprus issue.
In the final results after a cliffhanger contest, Papadopoulos came in third behind Mr Kasoulides and Mr Christofias, who were separated by less than a quarter of a percentage point.
Supporters of the two winners drove through the rainy streets of Nicosia, blowing their horns and flying their candidates' colours.
The result left Mr Kasoulides, 59, and Mr Christofias, 61, to go head-to-head in a runoff next Sunday.
The prospects of Mr Kasoulides and Mr Christofias depend on their election alliances in the run up to the second round, in which the winner must clinch at least 50% plus one vote.
More than half a million Cypriots, including 390 Turkish Cypriots voting for the first time in a presidential ballot, are registered for what the press has billed the most crucial election since independence in 1960.
Cyprus has been split along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
The UN has urged a resumption of peace talks that have been effectively stalled since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan in 2004.
