MANAGUA, Nov 6: Former Marxist revolutionary and US Cold War enemy Daniel Ortega headed back towards power on Monday in Nicaragua’s presidential election 16 years after voters threw him out to end a war against US-trained rebels.

With returns in from 40 per cent of polling stations in Sunday’s election, the 60-year-old Ortega had just above the 40 per cent of votes that would seal a first-round win.

Two quick counts by respected observer groups also gave Ortega a big enough lead to win without facing a runoff.

An Ortega victory would be a blow to Washington, which backed Contra rebels in the 1980s civil war and fears the leftist would join an anti-US bloc in Latin America led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Ortega kept a low profile on Monday but thousands of Sandinista supporters set off fireworks through the night and raced through the streets waving black-and-red party flags.

“We have to leave behind all the serious problems our country has suffered in the past, and move forward,” said Ortega’s vice presidential running mate Jaime Morales.

Ortega led the Sandinista revolution that toppled US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 and then allied Nicaragua with the Soviet Union as much of Central America became a Cold War battleground.

When asked in Washington on Monday about the possibility that Ortega has had a change of heart, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared skeptical.—Reuters