Egyptian authorities may delay the announcement of the winner in the presidential runoff, which had been expected on Thursday, because of a large number of complaints filed by the two candidates, a senior election commission official said.

If the electoral commission does delay the official declaration of a winner, it will only heighten tensions gripping the country after both candidates claimed victory. The camp of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq says he won with 51.5 per cent of the vote while the campaign of Islamist Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood says he got 52 per cent to defeat Shafiq with 48 percent.

Adding to the potentially explosive dispute over the election is the latest health scare of the 84-year-old Mubarak, who was ousted in Egypt's uprising last year and is now serving a life sentence in prison.

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