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Egypt's election committee said on Wednesday it may not be ready to announce the results of a runoff presidential vote on Thursday as planned because it was still reviewing appeals from the two candidates, both of whom claim to have won.
The second round of the contest saw the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi fightfought a head-to-head contest with Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
The latest twist in the election came amid conflicting reports regarding the health of 84-year-old Mubarak. Late on Tuesday night it had been reported that he was "clinically dead". While this was swiftly retracted, it appeared early on Wednesday that his condition had deteriorated. Later reports suggested he had been taken off life support but would be monitored closely over the next three days after a stroke and cardiac arrest.
Preliminary results had placed the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate in the lead over Shafiq, a former air force commander regarded as the preferred choice of the country's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. However, the elections commission is still looking at hundreds of appeals from both camps that may strike some votes and tip the balance either way.
The Brotherhood had announced Morsi was the winner only hours after the polls closed. It released figures it had compiled from the 13,000 polling stations, giving Morsi 13.2m votes and Shafiq 12.3m.
The Shafiq campaign said its candidate was ahead but did not give initially give numbers. However, a member of the campaign, Tamir Wagih, told the Guardian their figures confirmed a Shafiq win. He said the Brotherhood's victory announcement was an attempt to incite violence in case their candidate lost.
"At that point only 30% had been counted, their announcement was a political trick to send a message to the military that if they don't win they will claim electoral fraud and justify acts of violence," he said.
Wagih also claimed the total number of voters in the runoff was 23.5 million, rather than the 25.5 million figure used by Morsi's supporters. The Shafiq campaign figures – which are not final – give their candidate 10.85m and Morsi 10.5m votes, with two million still to be counted.
If Morsi had won, Wagih said: "We respect the authorities and we'll discuss our response."
Any lengthy delay in announcing the winner risks prolonging uncertainty and stoking tension at a time when it is unclear how big a role the military will continue to play in leading the country.
On Tuesday, a US election monitoring group said it was unable to say whether the presidential election had been free and fair as it had not been given sufficient access. It accused the military leadership of hampering a transition to democracy.
The Carter Center criticised a court's decision to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and issue a decree from the military council limiting the future president's powers.
Mubarak's 'death' as it happened
On Tuesday night the death of Hosni Mubark was wrongly announced amid a febrile atmosphere in Cairo. The rumour mill went into overdrive, before retractions a plenty followed. The situation was compounded by the lack of transparency by any official body regarding his condition. Here's how it played out (all times BST):
Tuesday
7:23pm: Mubarak's health deteriorates severely and the public prosecutor orders his transfer to another hospital.
7:28pm: A security source tells Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram that Mubarak's condition has severely deteriorated and that he remains in Torah prison, despite doctors' recommendations that he be moved immediately.
7:46pm: The state news agency, MENA, reports that Mubarak has been put on life support after his heart stopped twice.
7:56pm: Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that Mubarak is to be moved to the Maadi military hospital. Al-Akhbar reports that Mubarak has suffered a stroke, according to his lawyer Farid El-Deeb.
9:13pm: Mubarak is transferred to the military hospital.
10:23pm: Reuters quotes MENA that Mubarak is clinically dead in a report confirmed by a hospital source.
10:59pm: Reuters revises its story, quoting security sources that say Mubarak is not clinically dead but is unconscious and remains on life support.
Wednesday
11:20am: AP reports that Mubarak is recovering and off life support, but remains in a coma. His heart and other vital organs are still functioning.
12:57pm: Ahram Online quotes an official medical source that Mubarak is not in a deep coma and may recover, with the next 72 hours being critical. However, "he may not regain all his intellectual and physical capacities and may have impaired concentration and vision due to a stroke".
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