Voters in Costa Rica cast ballots for president

SAN JOSE (AFP) — Voters in Costa Rica went to the polls to cast ballots in a presidential election that could bring Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias back as the Central American country's leader.

Polls opened at 1200 GMT and were to close at 0001 GMT Monday.

Arias, a centrist who won the peace prize in 1987 and was president from 1986 to 1990, has such a strong lead in opinion polls over his centre-left rival Otton Solis that he could win the presidency in the first round.

Surveys ahead of Sunday's balloting gave Arias, the candidate of the National Liberation Party (PLN), between 41 and 49 percent of public support. Solis, representing the Citizens Action Party, gets 21-31 percent, polls show.

Arias is confident he will get the 40 percent needed to avoid a second round. Analysts say, however, there could be a late ...