The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said in a statement that it won 36 of the 56 seats awarded to individual candidates in voting which concluded Tuesday.

The Islamist group already won almost 37 percent of the vote in earlier polling, which awarded seats according to party lists.

The Brotherhood's political arm and other Islamist blocs have so far dominated the first election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February, with liberal parties trailing.

The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party has come in second after the Muslim Brotherhood, winning nearly a quarter of the ballots cast in the late November vote for party lists.

Al-Nour party spokesman Yousseri Hamed told The Associated Press Wednesday that his group won at least five additional seats in runoffs. Votes are still being counted.

Some Islamists, however, faced a tough battle in Cairo. Candidate Mostafa Al-Naggar of the newly formed liberal Justice Party said he won against a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the run-off vote.

The Brotherhood meanwhile said that one of their candidates had beaten a particularly controversial Al-Nour candidate, Abdel-Monem El-Shahat, in the northern coastal city of Alexandria.

El-Shahat caused a stir during the run-up to the vote by saying the novels of Egypt's Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, used widely in Egyptian schools as textbooks, are "all prostitution."

Both the Muslim Brotherhood and various Salafi groups have long offered social and medical services to millions of impoverished Egyptians, winning them political backing. Most of the parties formed after the downfall of Mubarak lack name recognition and thus have less clout, especially in rural areas.

The voting for the 498-member elected Parliament is staggered over three stages, with two-thirds of the country yet to cast ballots.

Meanwhile, mmilitary rulers issued a decree Wednesday handing presidential powers to Prime Minister Kamal Al-Ganzouri but kept control of military affairs and the judiciary, the official news agency said.

The military, in charge since leader Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February in a popular uprising, has been under pressure to speed a promised transition to civilian rule.

It appointed Al-Ganzouri after the former Cabinet resigned last month during clashes between police and protesters demanding that the army step aside. Al-Ganzouri said on Tuesday he expected to be granted broader powers than his predecessor.