Muslim Brotherhood claims early lead in Egyptian vote.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on Friday its candidate Mohamed Mursi had won in Egypt's first free presidential vote, Reuters news agency reports.

The party said Mursi had won through to a run-off next month against ex-air force chief Ahmed Shafiq, who was deposed leader Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister.

Misr 25 TV Channel presented the preliminary reports provided by Islamists, according to which Mursi received 51 percent of the total votes. About 22.3 percent of voters have polled for the ex prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. Leader of the Socialists, leftist Hamdeen Sabahy garnered 20 percent of votes.

First-round voting started on May 23 and was held in a calm atmosphere over two days with polls closing late on Thursday. The final results of the vote will be published on May 28. If none of the candidates garners 50 percent, they will participate in the run-off to be held on June 16 and 17.

Official results are not due to be announced until next week, but representatives of the candidates are allowed to watch the count, enabling them to compile their own tally.

There are 50 million eligible voters in Egypt.