Senegal's incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade conceded defeat to rival Macky Sall in presidential elections on Sunday, according to state media.

The Senegalese Press Agency said Wade had "phoned his rival Macky Sall at 2130 GMT to congratulate him after the first results showed him to be the winner of a presidential run-off."

Supporters of Sall began celebrating in the streets of the capital, Dakar, singing and dancing after partial results showed the opposition candidate had trounced the incumbent.

The election appeared to run smoothly, although some exuberant supporters of 85-year-old Wade faced tear gas from police when they got too close to Wade's polling station near his home.

The scenes of support for Wade at the polling station contrasted with those seen in February during the first round, when Wade was booed while casting his vote. This time, after emerging from the polling station, Wade rode down the street in an open-air car pumping his fists as supporters ran alongside the vehicle.

Controversial third candidacy

Wade faced stiff competition from Sall, his former prime minister, who had gathered the full weight of the opposition behind his bid for the post.

During the first round of voting in February, Wade won with 34.8 percent of the vote, compared to Sall's 26.58 percent, but neither of the candidates had the absolute majority needed to claim the presidency.

Deadly protests flared in the months leading up to the first vote after Wade used a constitutional loophole to seek a third term, despite the two-term limit. 

Despite having served two terms, a limit he himself introduced, Wade said later changes to the constitution allowed him to serve two more mandates as the law was not retroactive - and the argument was upheld by the country's constitutional council.

Youth-oriented campaign

Fifty-year-old Sall focused his campaign on Senegal's youth, as well as on the unemployed and disillusioned, promising to create more job opportunities in rural areas and bring down food prices.

"The Senegalese people have made it clear that they have had enough of the current leadership, that they want to turn the page," Sall told DPA news agency before Sunday's vote. "If Wade does not win, I hope he will have the wisdom to step down gracefully."

But Wade, who has been accused of grooming his son Karim to succeed him, still had plenty of supporters. Wade finished campaigning earlier this week with a promise that the vote would be fair and transparent. He was first elected in 2000 on a platform of democracy and human rights.

Wade has maintained throughout that his candidacy is fair and that he has more work to do for Senegal.

Sunday's poll was being monitored by about 300 international observers from the EU, African Union and ECOWAS regional body of states.

mz, acb/ccp (AP, AFP, dpa)