Ultranationalist leads in Serbia's presidential vote, but runoff necessary

Independent monitors said an ally of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic had edged ahead of the pro-Western incumbent in Serbia's presidential election Sunday, but failed to win an outright majority - forcing the two into a runoff. Belgrade's Center for Free Elections and Democracy, which independently counted votes alongside election officials, said Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic had received about 39 percent of the first-round vote, compared with incumbent Boris Tadic's 35 percent. A runoff is scheduled for Feb. 3.