TEL AVIV, May 29, 2007, (WAFA)-Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has woned in Monday's first round of the Labor primaries and will square off against second place finisher Ami Ayalon next month in a final round to decide the party's new leader, Haaretz reported Tuesday.

The daily added that as the final votes were counted early on Tuesday, the margin between Ayalon and Barak widened slightly, with Barak emerging as the leader. Barak finished with 34.2 percent of votes to Ayalon's 31.7 percent.

Current Labor Party leader Amir Peretz trailed throughout the poll, finishing with 21.8 percent of votes, while Ophir Pines-Paz had 7.9 percent, according to the daily.

M.H.(10:30 P)(07:30 GMT)