Taipei  - El Salvador's president-elect Mauricio Funes, who has reportedly considered closer trade ties with China, has assured Taiwan of continued relations, it was reported Saturday.

Funes sent an envoy to Taiwan's embassy Friday to deliver his message of support, the Liberty Times reported.

San Salvador, El Salvador - Leftist candidate Mauricio Funes claimed victory "without a shadow of doubt" late Sunday in El Salvador's presidential election, a historic vote that put an end to a 20-year rule by right-wing party ARENA.

"This was the happiest night of my life," Funes told reporters and supporters.

The still unofficial result was also a step forward in El Salvador's efforts to recover from a bloody 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and claimed 75,000 lives.

San Salvador, El Salvador  - Salvadorans headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new president in a vote that could help the strife- torn Central American country put its violent political past behind it.

Polling stations opened at 6 am (1200 GMT) and closed 11 hours later, in an intense day with no major incidents in which 4.3 million people were entitled to vote.

San Salvador, El Salvador  - Salvadorans headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new president in a vote that could help the strife- torn Central American country put its violent political past behind it.

For the first time in 20 years of rule by the right-wing party ARENA, the leftist FMLN is within reach of the presidency. The election between leftist former TV journalist Mauricio Funes, 49, and right-wing former police chief Rodrigo Avila, 45, however remains too close to call, according to the latest surveys of public opinion.

San Salvador, El Salvador - After a long campaign characterized by personal attacks, Rodrigo Avila - the ruling-party candidate in Sunday's presidential election - insists that El Salvador has yet to attain "political peace."

In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, he said that a potential triumph by his only competition in the election would put El Salvador "within the realm of influence" of Hugo Chavez.

Leftist Mauricio Funes has denied such allegations.