As it happened: Egypt election result

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in Egypt, where election officials are expected to announce the delayed results of the presidential run-off election held last weekend. Tension is running high, amid fears of more political violence sparked by the result. Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq have both claimed victory. We'll be bringing you updates as they happen, live video, insight from our correspondents in the field as well as a selection of tweets, emails, and pictures from key players, experts and members of the public.

says it is fiercely hot in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Young men move through the growing crowd flicking water from bottles onto protestors or spraying it from backpacks. The cooling effect is welcome but brief.

Shops in Cairo have been closing early and people are hurrying to their homes to watch the decisive news conference from the election commission, which is expected to announce the result at 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT).

says the presidential announcement is unlikely to defuse tensions because there is an existing sit-in protest in Tahrir Square by people calling on Egypt's ruling generals to revoke the sweeping new powers they gave themselves last week after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-dominated parliament should be dissolved.

says Egyptian state TV is warning that the announcement of the name of the new president may be preceded by an hour and a half long adjudication of every complaint of irregularities in the voting. A long hot afternoon in the square just got a bit longer, he adds.

This picture from Cairo-based political analyst Elijah Zarwan apparently shows gridlock in Cairo as people head home to watch the election announcement.

says banks and schools are closed, so are many shops. Government employees were sent home at 13:00 local time, two hours before the presidential election commission starts to read its verdict. Security has been stepped up on this momentous day.

Samir Radwan, Egypt's finance minister just after the revolution, tells the BBC that the new president will have to deal with his country's significant financial problems: "When I started my work just five days after the revolution, we had $36bn in reserves, international reserves - that's 18 months of imports. Now it's less than $15bn; it's rock bottom, really. Tourism, by any standard, has gone down tremendously, exports have gone down, unemployment is as high as 12% - that's the official figure which is understated; 42% of the population is below the poverty line."

This is a picture of Egyptian military police, standing guard in front of the presidential election commission headquarters in Cairo.

Dr Omar Ashour, an Egypt expert from the Brookings Institution, tells the BBC from Cairo that revolutionaries around the region are "looking at Egypt for this revolution to succeed." He adds: "The best gift Egypt can give the Arab Spring is for this revolution to succeed."

says the news conference of the Supreme Presidential Election Commission is only minutes away, as speculations about both Ahmed Shafiq and Mohammed Morsi wins reaches fever pitch ahead of the results. Tahrir square is seeing tens of thousands of pro- Mursi protesters praying for his win. In Nasr City neighborhood, hundereds of Shafiq supporters are awaiting the results. There is a heavy security presence around the homes of both candidates.

says crowds have been growing in Tahrir Square all day. Despite the sweltering heat, thousands are dancing and singing, waving Egyptian flags. Posters of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi are everywhere, as people chant slogans through loud speakers. Music is playing "to the square, to the square" as people chant "Mursi, Mursi, Allahu Akbar" and "Revolution, revolution until victory. Revolution, revolution, in all the streets of Egypt."

Live pictures show a full house at the electoral commission news conference in Nasser City - a northern suburb of Cairo. It was expected to begin twenty minutes ago. Four chairs stand empty behind the desk from which the announcement will be made. The backdrop shows an Egyptian flag with a voting icon - a hand depositing a ballot slip over the top of a pyramid.

Action at the election commission news conference as the officials arrive in front of the microphones.

Journalists and officials stand for the Egyptian national anthem, played loudly ahead of the start of the election commission's announcement.

The anthem ends, and Farouq Sultan, head of the election commission and chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, says he is speaking to the Egyptian people "at the end of an era".

"I was hoping to announce the results in a more celebratory environment," Farouq Sultan says. "But not everyone can get what everyone wishes."

Farouq Sultan is going through the outcomes of some of the legal challenges made during the electoral process, while around the country, millions wait for an answer to the key question: Who is Egypt's next president?

says crowds are listening to the election result announcement silently and patiently in Tahrir Square. Loudspeakers are playing a live feed of the election commission announcement, currently under way. Some are gathered round TV sets under tents. Some are praying.

Farouq Sultan is taking his time. Earlier estimates suggested there would be a 90-minute pre-amble to the announcement of the result. Just over an hour to go, then.

says that on past form, he [Sultan] is likely to give a long speech before he gets to the nub of the matter.

The commission faced "media lies", its chairman says, but members rose above it. "The commission applied the law when it looked into the ballots. There is nothing above the law."

Dina Demrdash, reporting for BBC Arabic, reports some figures from the commission's announcement: There were 50.3 million eligible voters. Some 37,000 votes were cancelled and the commission received a total of 452 appeals from the candidates - Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and former PM Ahmed Shafiq.

Huge cheers ring out from a jubilant Tahrir Square as news of the election result comes through.

Some men are crying in Tahrir. "Now we have true freedom one man said". Another said: "This is 100% our victory. This is 100% our revolution." Firecrackers are going off as thousands cheer, sing, and dance.

Reaction is beginning to come in from outside Egypt. News agency AFP reports celebratory gunfire in Gaza. Hamas is calling this "an historic moment", the agency says.

Middle East analyst Magdi Abdelhardi tells the BBC: "I really doubt the Shafiq camp will rally behind the Muslim Brotherhood. The people behind him are still largely the people who are controlling Egypt today. They will not hand over the levers of power without a fight - not necessarily a violent fight, but they will resist." Read more of Magdi's thoughts about the "deep state" within Egypt.

Supporters of Mohammed Mursi in Tahrir Square express their jubilation as the election result comes through, in this picture from Egyptian state television.

reporting for BBC Arabic, says there has already been reaction from Mohammed Mursi on Twitter (in Arabic). He says: "A salute and appreciation for the fair and honest judiciary of Egypt, and to the brave police and army men who protected the democratic process with honour." As the BBC's profile of Mr Mursi outlines, he has promised to bring "stability security, justice and prosperity" after a year of political upheaval.

A supporter of Egypt's new president celebrates at Mohammed Mursi's campaign HQ in Cairo

The head of Egypt's ruling military council (Scaf), Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, has congratulated Mohammed Mursi on winning the presidency, Egyptian Nile News TV reports. The generals have vowed to hand power to the new president by 30 June, but their earlier decision to dissolve parliament means he could take office without the oversight of a sitting legislature and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties.

Our live coverage of this historic day for Egypt is now ending, but the latest updates in text and video, along with insight from BBC correspondents and other experts, will still be available on the BBC News homepage.