Voters go to polls again faced with tough choice

Greece's former left-wing prime minister Alexis Tsipras declared on Sunday he was confident of winning a second mandate for a "fighting government" to reform and revive the crisis-hit nation's economy, as voters cast ballots in a knife-edge race.

As voting opened under sunny skies in a tight contest between Tsipras' Syriza party and the conservatives, he said: "The Greek people... will take their future into their own hands... and seal the transition to a new era."

The 41-year-old, who cast his ballot in the Athens working-class district of Kypseli, faces a strong challenge from the conservative New Democracy party led by ex-defense minister Vangelis Meimarakis, with eve-of-election polls giving Tsipras a slight edge.