South Ossetia will hold second round of presidential elections

The frontrunning pro-Kremlin candidate Monday unexpectedly failed to win the elections for a new leader of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, forcing a second round run-off.

Anatoly Bibilov, South Ossetia's emergencies minister whose candidacy was blessed by its main backer Moscow, narrowly came second to former education minister Alla Dzhioyeva in the first round of voting.

The head of the election commission Bella Pliyeva said voters had voted "yes" in the referendum, adding that full results would be published later in the day.

Turnout in the presidency election was just over 66 percent one hour before the close of the polls although final participation numbers have yet to be published. The nearest challenger to the leading duo was bread factory boss Vadim Tskhovrebov who won 9.3 percent of the vote, the AFP reports.