Mahmoud Abbas who won some 66 percent of votes in yesterday's Palestinian presidential election as an exit poll showed dedicated his victory to late leader Yasser Arafat.

Addressing a rally of his Fatah supporters, Abbas proclaimed his victory in the election, the first of such since 1996."We offer this victory to the soul of brother Yasser Arafat," Abbas told the jubilant rally.

"We also dedicate it to all the martyrs and wounded and prisoners behind (Israeli) bars," he said.

Polls started at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and closed at 9 p.m. (1900GMT), two hours later than scheduled.

According to a poll conducted by the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Abbas won 66 percent of the votes, leading his nearest rival by some 46 percent. The final result will be announced by the Central Election Committee on Monday.

Shortly after the polls shut down, celebrations broke up allover the Palestinian territories.

Militants fired into the air and thousands of Abbas' supporters took to the streets, waving Palestinian national flags and pictures of Arafat and Abbas.

Abbas looked excited and meanwhile sober.

He told the crowd in Ramallah that he was facing hard tasks ahead.

"There are difficult missions waiting for us on how to build our state and how to find dignity to our people and our militants," said Abbas.

Abbas, 69, is a relative moderate among the Palestinian leadership and considered as a possible peacemaker by Israel. Enditem

Election committee begins counting votes after polls close

The Central Election Committee began counting votes right after the Palestinian presidential polls closed throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem Sunday evening.

Official sources estimated that there were 1.7 million eligible voters, and more than 60 percent of the voters cast their ballots.

The polls opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and closed at 9:00 p.m.(1900 GMT), while hundreds of voters went to the polling stations dotted in the territories at the last moment.

An exit poll, conducted by the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, showed that Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah's candidate, won 66 percent of the votes, while Mustafa Barghouti, Abbas' main rival, garnered about 20 percent of the votes, and five other candidates trailed far behind.

The official results of the election will be declared on Monday.

The winner of the historic race will replace late leader Yasser Arafat who died on Nov. 11 last year.