Kenya's Presidential Race 'Won By Kenyatta'

Kenya's electoral commission says voting results indicate Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has won the presidential election.

Mr Kenyatta, who faces international charges of crimes against humanity, won the poll with a slim margin of 50.03% of the vote - just enough to avoid a run-off.

He secured the victory over his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who got 43.28% of the votes cast.

The first round win, which has yet to be officially confirmed by Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, saw Mr Kenyatta breaking the 50% barrier by just 4,099 votes out of 12.3 million cast.

Mr Odinga will launch a legal challenge if Mr Kenyatta is officially declared president, according to an adviser.

Mr Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding father, faces charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 post-election violence.

More than 1,000 people were killed and up to 600,000 forced from their homes as a result of the disputed poll, where members of two rival tribes both claimed victory.

Britain, which ruled Kenya up until the early 1960s, said it would have only essential contact with the Kenyan government if Mr Kenyatta becomes president.

Mr Kenyatta's ICC trial is set to begin in July and could take years, meaning that if he is sworn in as president he may have to rule Kenya from The Hague in the Netherlands for much of his five-year term.

Another option is, as president, to decide not to attend the trial. But that decision would trigger an international arrest warrant and spark even more damaging effects for Kenya's standing with the West.

Mr Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague, even if he is sworn in.

There were fears going into the election that the violence that rocked Kenya five years ago would return.

A separatist group launched attacks on Monday that ended in the deaths of 19 people, but the vote and its aftermath has otherwise been mostly peaceful.

Security forces in riot gear were on the streets of the capital Nairobi again on Friday ahead of the election results being announced.

A formal announcement on the results is expected later today.