Turkmenistan's acting head declared president

ASHGABAT, Feb 14 (Reuters) Turkmenistan's central election commission today declared acting leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov the winner of a February 11 presidential election.

''According to the result of 89.23 per cent of all votes cast for him, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is elected president of Turkmenistan,'' Central Election Commission head Murad Karriyev told a session of the Central Asian state's People's Assembly.

The election pitted the acting leader against five lower profile candidates from the nation's only legal political party.

A number of senior US, Russian and Chinese officials were in the capital Ashgabat to attend his inauguration ceremony which was to follow the announcement.

REUTERS MS HS1024