Cyprus' presidential election kicks off

Nicosia, Feb 5 Voters in Cyprus went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president to succeed outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades.

Polling stations opened at 0500 GMT and are set to close at 1600 GMT, and the final results are expected about two hours after the end of voting, said local authorities, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Chief Returning Officer Costas Constantinou said over 561,000 people have registered to vote, with over 10,000 voting from abroad, primarily in Greece, the UK, Belgium, and the US.

Analysts previously predicted that none of the 14 presidential candidates would win outright, and that the two frontrunners would face off in a runoff on February 12.