The two were the top vote-getters after a two-day election on Wednesday and Thursday which none of the 13 candidates could win outright. Now, both must appeal to the roughly 50 percent of voters who cast ballots for someone else.

Addressing a news conference, Shafiq appeared to be trying to cast off his image as an anti-revolution candidate who spoke disparagingly about the youth groups that engineered the anti-Mubarak uprising, reaching out to all segments of society in a bid to rally voters who favored his rivals during the first-round.

A former air force commander and a personal friend of Mubarak’s, Shafiq was booted out of office by a wave of street protests shortly after Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, 2011.

The 15 months since Mubarak’s ouster has seen a surge in crime, a faltering economy and seemingly endless street protests, work stoppages and sit-ins. The generals who took over from Mubarak, say critics, have mismanaged the transitional period. Furthermore, they are blamed for the death of more than a hundred protesters, torturing detainees and trying before military tribunals at least 12,000 civilians.

“I pledge to every Egyptian that there will be turning back and no recreation of the old regime,” said Shafiq, 70. “Egypt has changed and there will be no turning back the clock. We have had a glorious revolution. I pay tribute to this glorious revolution and pledge to be faithful to its call for justice and freedom.”

More than a year after protesters demanding democracy toppled Mubarak, the face-off between the Morsi and Shafiq looked like a throwback to his era — a rivalry between a military-rooted strongman promising a firm hand to ensure stability and Islamists vowing to implement religious law.

The head-to-head match between them is the most polarized outcome possible from the first round, and will likely lead to a heated campaign. Each has die-hard supporters but is also loathed by significant sectors of the population.

The first round race turned out close. By Friday evening, counts from stations around the country reported by the state news agency gave Morsi 25.3 percent and Shafiq 24.9 percent with less than 100,000 votes difference.

A large chunk of the vote — more than 40 percent — went to candidates who were seen as more in the spirit of the uprising that toppled Mubarak, that is neither from the Brotherhood nor from the so-called “feloul,” or “remnants” of the old autocratic regime that Shafiq is considered one of.

In particular, those votes went to leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who narrowly came in third in a surprisingly strong showing of 21.5 percent, and a moderate Islamist who broke with the Brotherhood, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh.

The landmark vote — the fruit of last year’s uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak — turned into a heated battle between Islamist candidates and secular figures rooted in Mubarak’s old regime. The most polarizing figures in the race were the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi and former air force commander and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of Mubarak’s rule.

By midday Friday, the counting had been completed in at least 20 of the country’s 27 provinces, representing around half the votes cast — though workers were still plowing through the paper ballots from Egypt’s biggest metropolis, the capital Cairo and its sister city Giza. The election commission said turnout in the election’s first round was about 50 percent of more than 50 million eligible voters.

Morsi was in the lead with 28 percent of the ballots so far, according to the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, which was compiling reports from counting stations. That is likely enough to secure him a spot in the runoff.

But the race for second place was neck-and-neck between Shafiq and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who was a darkhorse during months of campaigning but had a surprising surge in the days before voting began as Egyptians looked for an alternative to both Islamists and the former regime figures known as “feloul” or “remnants.”

Sabahi is a leftist who claims the mantle of the nationalist, socialist ideology of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Egypt’s president from 1956 to 1970.

“The results reflect that people are searching for a third alternative, those who fear a religious state and those who don’t want Mubarak’s regime to come back,” said Sabahi campaign spokesman Hossam Mounis.

Earlier in the day, Al-Masry Al-Youm’s tally had Shafiq with 21 percent of the vote so far, and Sabahi at 20 percent. But then Sabahi scored a surprise win in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, where he came in first and Morsi and Shafiq lagged far behind. That vaulted Sabahi into a narrow second place lead for the moment, though several Shafiq strongholds in the Nile Delta had still to report.

The count from Cairo and Giza was not expected to be finished until late Friday or early Saturday, Mounis said.

Alexandria is the traditional stronghold of both the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis. But the powerful Salafi vote there was split between Islamist candidates. The result is “a great loss to the Brotherhood who lost their credibility in the street,” Mounis said.

The Brotherhood is hoping for a presidential victory to seal its political domination of Egypt, which would be a dramatic turnaround from the decades it was repressed under Mubarak. It already holds nearly half of parliament after victories in elections late last year.

The group has promised a “renaissance” of Egypt, not only reforming Mubarak-era corruption and reviving decrepit infrastructure, but also bringing a greater degree of rule by Islamic law. That prospect has alarmed more moderate Muslims, secular Egyptians and the Christian minority, who all fear restrictions on civil rights and worry that the Brotherhood shows similar domineering tendencies as Mubarak.

“I think we are on the verge of a new era. We trusted God, we trusted in the people, we trusted in our party,” prominent Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian said at a news conference late Thursday night, just hours after polls closed, when the group first claimed a Morsi victory.

A Morsi verus Shafiq runoff would likely be a particularly heated race.

Each has repeatedly spoken of the dangers, real or imaginary, if the other becomes president. Morsi has said there would be massive street protests if a “feloul” wins, arguing it could only be the result of rigging.

Shafiq, on his part, has said it would be “unacceptable” if an Islamist takes the presidential office, echoing the rhetoric of Mubarak, his longtime mentor who devoted much of his 29-year rule to fighting Islamists. Still, Shafiq’s campaign has said it would accept the election’s result.

And each fires up strong emotions among the public.

Shafiq drew support among Egyptians who fear Islamists or want a perceived “strongman” to bring stability after 16 months of economic and political turmoil and bloodshed since Mubarak’s fall. But he also raises the venom of many who see him as another Mubarak-style autocrat, rooted in a regime that was notorious for corruption and police brutality.

Secular Egyptians fear the prospect of greater religion in government if Morsi wins. Moreover, the Brotherhood faced a backlash from many of the voters who supported it in the parliament election but later grew disillusioned. Some accused it of trying to overly monopolize power like Mubarak’s ruling party once did.

Morsi’s showing in the partial results was a considerable drop from the around 50 percent support the Brotherhood received in the parliament vote.

“Egyptians are punishing the Muslim Brotherhood, even if their candidate won,” said Tharwat el-Kherbawi, an ex-Brotherhood member and an analyst in Islamic movements.

Still, Morsi benefited from the might of the Brotherhood’s well-organized electoral machine, the nation’s strongest.

“We need a president who gets rid of the former corrupt and oppressive system and brings Egypt back to the position it deserves economically and internationally,” said Rizk Mohammed, a contractor voting with his family in Cairo on Thursday — all for Morsi.

At another station Thursday in the Cairo district of el-Zawiya el-Hamra, several women in line to vote debated.

“I like the personality of Shafiq. He is strong enough to lift the country,” said Suheir Abdel-Mumin.

Somaiya Imam, still undecided on whom to choose, replied with a reference to Islamist candidates, saying: “Don’t you think we should vote for the candidate who holds the Quran?”

“We voted for them before and they let us down,” Abdel-Mumin responded, referring to the Brotherhood’s victories in last year’s parliamentary elections. “They want everything — the presidency, parliament and government. They are never satisfied.”

Thirteen candidates, who include Islamists, liberals and Mubarak regime figures, are contesting the election. No outright winner is expected to emerge from the two-day vote starting Wednesday. So, a runoff between the two top finishers will be held June 16-17. The winner will be announced on June 21.

“It’s a miracle,” said Selwa Abdel-Malik, a 60-year-old Christian from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria as she was about to vote. “And it’s a beautiful feeling too.”

For most of his 29-year rule, Mubarak — like his predecessors — ran unopposed in yes-or-no referendums. Rampant fraud guaranteed ruling party victories in parliamentary elections. Even when, in 2005, Mubarak let challengers oppose him in elections, he ended up not only trouncing his liberal rival but jailing him.

Egypt’s next president will be the nation’s fifth since the monarchy was toppled following a 1952 coup that ushered in six decades of de facto military rule. Like his three predecessors — Anwar Sadat, Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Mohammed Naguib — Mubarak has a military background.

Many of the candidates in the race have called for amendments in Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which most Egyptians continue to view as their nation’s number one enemy. Though none will likely to dump the pact, a victory by any of the Islamist or leftist candidates could mean strained ties with Israel and a stronger backing for the Palestinians in the peace process.

The generals who have taken over from Mubarak after an 18-day uprising forced him to step down 15 months ago have promised to hand over power by July 1, ending a turbulent transitional period defined by deadly street clashes, a faltering economy, a dramatic surge of crime and human rights abuses.

The military has said it has no intention to cling on to power, but it is not clear what authority it wants to retain after the election of a new president. The generals have said they have no preferred candidate, but they are widely thought to be favoring Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander and Mubarak’s last prime minister who has steadily gained in opinion polls over the past week.

Other front-runners are Mubarak’s foreign minister of 10 years Amr Moussa, Mohammed Morsi of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, a moderate Islamist whose inclusive platform has won him the support of some liberals, leftists and minority Christians.

The election comes less than two weeks before Mubarak, 84, is due to be sentenced after he was tried on charges of complicity in the killing of some 900 protesters during the uprising against his rule. He also faced corruption charges, along with his two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa.

Whoever wins will face the unenviable task of having to tackle a host of formidable problems, ranging from economic, a tenuous security and soaring unemployment. The next president will serve a four-year term.

“May God help the new president,” said Zaki Mohammed, a teacher in his 40s as he waited to vote in a district close to the Giza Pyramids. “There will be 82 million pair of eyes watching him.”

Another voter in line, tour agent Salah Ali, said: “We need someone who works more than he talks.”

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Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy contributed to this report from Alexandria, Egypt.

Anti-Saudi sentiment has flared on a number of occasions in recent years following reports that an Egyptian national has been mistreated in the kingdom or experienced a miscarriage of justice in a Saudi court.

Egyptian activists say Cairo has in the past refused to take a strong stand to protect citizens in Saudi Arabia so as not to alienate the wealthy rulers of the kingdom, or endanger the millions of jobs that Egyptians hold in Saudi Arabia.

El-Gezawi’s sister, Sheren, told a private Egyptian television channel on Monday night that her brother was arrested upon his April 17 arrival in the Saudi port of Jiddah.

She said he had been previously convicted in absentia and sentenced to a year in prison and 20 lashes by a Saudi court for insulting the king. El-Gezawi had filed a lawsuit in Egypt against King Abdullah over the alleged arbitrary detention of hundreds of Egyptians living in the kingdom.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said Cairo was in constant contact with Saudi authorities over the arrest.

The ministry, he said, would not participate in “feeding media campaigns that aim at … inciting public opinion.” He added: “Citizens should think about how they voice their views and whether they would serve the interests of the detained citizen or make it worse … This is not a football match.”

In 2008, another case involving Egyptians living in Saudi Arabia caused public uproar, when two Egyptian doctors were sentenced to seven years in prison and 700 lashes each for illegally selling pharmaceuticals and allegedly driving a Saudi princess to drug addiction.

The Egyptian media and human rights groups said the doctors had been wrongly blamed for the princess’ alleged addiction. They demanded that now-ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who had close ties with the Saudi king and royal family, to intervene.

The two were pardoned and returned to the country a year later.