(Adds statement from Wade's coalition, electoral authority) By Diadie Ba DAKAR, Feb 25 (Reuters) - President Abdoulaye Wade took an early lead over rivals in Senegal's election on Sunday, the official news agency reported, citing initial returns after a high turnout at the polls. Wade has predicted he will win outright in the first round, garnering more than 50 percent of the vote. His 14 challengers have said this would be impossible to achieve without fraud and that they will challenge any such result. This has raised fears of possible unrest in one of the few West African countries not to have experienced a coup or civil war since gaining independence half a century ago. The state-run Senegalese Press Agency (APS) said early, partial results posted at polling stations in Dakar and several other cities and towns such as Thies, Matam, Fatick and Podor gave the octogenarian president the initial advantage. Official results are not expected until Monday and it was not clear whether Wade was on track for outright victory. If not, a second-round run-off will be held in mid-March. Nevertheless, his Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS)-led coalition said their ballot tallies showed he was heading for a first round victory with 55 percent of the vote after 60 percent of the ballots had been counted. "These are not official results and do not contribute to a climate of serenity," said a spokesman for the election authority, the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA). A spokesman for Wade's Socialist Party rival Ousmane Tanor Dieng dismissed the PDS announcement as "fantasy". Wade, in his 80s, is running against Dieng and Idrissa Seck, the president's former ally and prime minister. In an earlier statement, Dieng's campaign said it had "credible information ... of a planned strategy of fraud". HIGH TURNOUT Long queues formed outside Senegal's polling stations on Sunday and voting hours were extended as the polls produced a high turnout among Senegal's five million voters. From the dusty towns of north Senegal, on the fringes of the Sahara, to forest villages in south Casamance region, where separatists are fighting a low-intensity war, voters flocked to cast their ballots in schools and public buildings. In the capital Dakar, long lines of voters, many dressed in colourful robes, waited patiently in the sun or in the shade of the thick-trunked baobab trees that dot Senegal's landscape. "I'm very optimistic and I think I'm going to win in the first round," Wade said, casting his ballot in a Dakar suburb. The controversy clearly worried voters in this predominantly Muslim country of nearly 12 million people, who live mostly from farming and fishing. "Those who are in power have done everything possible to stay there, even if an important majority want them to go," said Amadou Ndiaye, 57, a goods handler, as he voted. Wade's election in 2000 ended four decades of socialist rule. An economic liberal, he argues he has boosted Senegal's reputation as a stable democracy in a troubled region. His campaign has included ambitious job-creation projects to build highways, five-star hotels, railways and airports to stem an exodus of desperate young migrants leaving for Europe. Wade's opponents criticise him for failing to tackle rural poverty, weak infrastructure, rising prices and a lack of jobs in a country where more than half the population is under 18. (Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher)
