Campaign closes with election in balance

Former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras brushed off election polls on Friday suggesting his leftist Syriza party might lose to its conservative rival in Greece's election, saying he had a large group of supporters not reflected by pollsters.

He was speaking on the last day of formal campaigning for Sunday's general election with polls showing a cliffhanger vote expected, and some pointing to a win by the conservative New Democracy party.

Neither party, however, is expected to get the proportion of the vote needed - about 38 percent - to gain a majority in the 300-seat parliament, meaning a coalition is a near-certainty.