Romanian president leads in poll first round

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - President Traian Basescu led by a slim margin in the first round of Romania's presidential election on Monday and was set to face leftist leader Mircea Geoana in a December 6 run-off, official partial results showed.

After counting votes from nearly 50 percent of polling stations, the Central Electoral Bureau said Basescu had 33 percent of Sunday's ballot while Geoana was on 29 percent.

(Reporting by Radu Marinas; Editing by Ralph Gowling)