Though official results had still not been released, the Cambodian People's Party claimed it had won 66 seats in the 122-member National Assembly, giving it a commanding majority over 40 seats for Prince Norodom Ranriddh's Funcinpec and 16 for the Sam Rainsy Party.

"We seriously believe there was a counting fraud," Funcinpec said in a statement. "We believe the vote is not free and fair. Therefore, the election result is not credible. We demand the NEC to recount ballots in specific polling stations."

Preliminary official results had still not been announced by the Hun Sen-dominated National Election Committee, which was accused of colluding in tampering when the scheduled release of the outcome yesterday was postponed for a day. The result was better than estimates announced bythe Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia that Hun Sen's party had taken 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the vote. Hun Sen's party claimed to have received 1.8 million votes, compared to 1.4 million for Funcinpec and 583,000 for the Sam Rainsy Party.

But if the results are not accepted by Hun Sen's rivals or the millions of Cambodians who voted Sunday, the outcome could be more turmoil for a country that has suffered 30 years of civil war and the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s.

Without waiting for the results, the group coordinating 678 foreign observers from 40 countries declared the process free and fair yesterday, though the campaign had been marked by violence, including murder, and intimidation by Hun Sen's supporters against the opposition.

The Joint International Observers Group, dominated by the European Union, the main foreign donor in organising the elections, issued a declaration saying "all parties should accept and honour the results of the election without any attempt to undermine theoriginal outcome."

Hun Sen refused to accept defeat in UN-sponsored polls in 1993 and forced the winner, Ranariddh, to accept a co-premiership or face civil war. A year ago, Hun Sen ended their tense arrangement by sending tanks into the streets and deposing Ranariddh in two days of fighting.

The international endorsement of the polling and counting process was an important step toward Hun Sen's goal when he called the elections and permitted Ranariddh to return from exile to contest them restoration of international legitimacy and aid lost because of his bloody coup.

Opponents had said for months that Hun Sen had rigged the outcome in his favour. Leaders were harassed with threats of arrest, access to the all-important broadcast media was denied, opposition activists were murdered and voters intimidated.

At least 90 per cent of the 5.4 million registered voters cast ballots Sunday, showing faith in the democratic process.

But US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned that process could stillunravel.

"The real test of Cambodia's democracy will come after the ballots are counted," she said in Manila, Philippines.

Election day was not free of violence. An attack on a military outpost by die-hard remnants of the Khmer Rouge left ten people dead. But more significantly, thousands of former guerrillas who have made peace over the past two years voted for the first time in their lives.