Bolivia's socialist candidate Evo Morales has obtained an unbeatable lead in the country's presidential election, officials say.
Mr Morales says he will not deliberately seek confrontation
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With 93% of the Sunday's votes counted, Mr Morales' has 54% of the vote - enough for an outright victory.
Under Bolivian electoral law, it is up to congress to
decide between the two frontrunners if no candidate receives 50% of the
vote.
Mr Morales is set to become Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The official count shows conservative candidate Jorge
Quiroga - a former head of state - far behind with just under 30% of
the vote. He has already admitted defeat.
'No confrontation'
Officials in Bolivia's interim administration - which
came to power after President Carlos Mesa was forced to quit amid
street protests - are reportedly preparing to hand over power to Mr
Morales, an Aymara coca farmer.
At a news conference in the main city of La Paz, the
socialist leader insisted that he would not deliberately seek
confrontation on key policies.
Mr Morales has expressed his admiration for Cuban leader
Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and his rise to
power is said to worry the US.
In a BBC interview this week, Mr Morales defended
traditional uses of coca. He has said he will fight to get the coca
plant removed from a United Nations list of poisonous plants.
But Mr Morales has also called for an alliance with Washington against drug trafficking.
He also pledged to increase state control over his country's huge gas reserves - the second largest in the region.
Bolivia, South America's poorest state, has had five presidents in four years.
Bolivians also elected a new congress and regional governors on Sunday. | 
