Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential election, winning 47 per cent of the vote against the president's 43 per cent, senior government sources said today.
One source, declining to be named like the others, said a run-off would be needed because Mr Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory.
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said he won the March 29th vote outright and accuses Mr Mugabe - in power for 28 years - of delaying results to rig victory.
The standoff over the election has raised fears of widespread bloodshed.
Mr Tsvangirai has said there is no need for a second round because he won outright but has also suggested he could take part if there were international observers led by the UN.
If Mr Tsvangirai refused to take part in a run-off, Mr Mugabe would be declared the winner, according to election rules.
A top official in Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said: "Those figures are in line with the official figures and the MDC knows that the official tally is more or less around that but they have been inflating their numbers to claim a false victory."
There was no immediate comment on the leaked result from the Electoral Commission, which has invited candidates to start verifying the count from tomorrow. Opposition officials were not immediately available for comment.
Zimbabweans had hoped the election would ease economic turmoil. Instead, severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages are worsening and there are no signs an inflation rate of 165,000 per cent - the world's highest - will decrease.
The MDC and human rights groups allege ZANU-PF has embarked on a violent campaign to scare Zimbabweans into voting for Mr Mugabe in a run-off, accusations the government denies.
Earlier, Mr Mugabe's government dismissed the United Nations' first session on Zimbabwe's election crisis as "sinister, racist and colonial" and said it would have no impact on the country.