(AFP) – Jan 4, 2008

TBILISI (AFP) — Ex-Soviet Georgia's leader Mikheil Saakashvili was on the verge of triumph in the bruising election battle to renew his mandate for pro-Western radical reform, official figures showed Monday.

With 90 percent of votes counted, Saakashvili had 51.95 percent -- clearing the 50 percent barrier for winning Saturday's snap election in a single round, the Central Election Commission website showed.

His nearest opponent was wine entrepreneur Levan Gachechiladze, with 25.17 percent.

His victory at the polls followed a bitter contest against six challengers, who accuse the US-educated lawyer of rigging the election in the strategically located country of five million.

They have threatened to hold street protests this week, raising fears of a repeat of the violent instability in November that triggered Saturday's early election.

Saakashvili -- whose main goal is to wrest Georgia from Russia's influence and win NATO and EU membership -- shook hands with Gachechiladze at an Orthodox Christmas church service in the capital Tbilisi.

The flamboyant reformer, who came to power in the peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution, described Christmas as "a day of national unity. Today we have to forget our differences and disagreements."

If his renewed five-year mandate is confirmed, Saakashvili says he will pursue his transformation of Georgia from a near-failed state into what he calls a "miracle" of free market and democratic reforms.

Despite opposition allegations of fraud, the conduct of the election got a vote of confidence from the foreign observers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

OSCE mission head, US congressman Alcee Hastings, said that although there were some deficiencies, "democracy took a triumphant step."

A statement from the EU's Slovenian presidency however noted "significant challenges" to free elections "which need to be addressed urgently." NATO also highlighted "irregularities."

Saakashvili called the election a year early to try to defuse tension that erupted in November when police brutally beat anti-government protestors and a nine-day state of emergency was introduced.

The violence caused disappointment in the West and appalled many ordinary Georgians.

Analysts said the election did much to restore Saakashvili's standing in the West, although his bid for fast-track NATO membership has probably been derailed.

A win barely passing the 50 percent barrier would still mark a fall from grace for the man who won a post-Rose Revolution with 96 percent of the vote.

Already on Sunday, thousands of protestors gathered in Tbilisi. Organisers said they planned to return after the Orthodox Christmas.

Tina Khidasheli -- a leader of the opposition Republican Party -- told AFP she had documentary evidence of fraud.

That included doctored elections protocols accounting for 150,000 fake Saakashvili votes, said Khidasheli, who was an ally of Saakashvili ally back in the days of the Rose Revolution.

Koba Davitashvili, another former of his former allies, said: "Saakashvili falsified results. We will not allow him to steal our victory."

But Central Election Commission Chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili said that despite opposition claims of mass fraud, complaints filed were "unlikely" to "significantly change the results."

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana congratulated the Georgian people for "the peaceful conduct of truly competitive presidential elections."

But he also called for all allegations of irregularities to be probed.

Moscow was dismissive of the OSCE's largely positive assessment of the way the election went, saying that Hastings's comments "seem, at the least, superficial." Hastings, speaking from Helsinki, rejected the criticism.

Saakashvili's ties with the West have infuriated Russia.

The mountainous country is a close US ally, having contributed 2,000 troops to the war in Iraq and on the point of sending others to Afghanistan.

Georgia is also of growing strategic importance at the crossroads of Central Asia and Europe, as well as Russia, Iran and NATO member Turkey.

Major US-backed oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean run through the country.

Moscow has struck back at Georgia's pro-Western course with sweeping economic sanctions and support for armed rebels who control two separatist regions of Georgia -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

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