Ortega: Sandinistas have 'changed'

The main opposition candidate in the Nicaraguan presidential election in November, Daniel Ortega, says his party would recognise private property rights if he were elected.

Mr Ortega, who was ratified as the left-wing Sandinista candidate on Monday, also said he would seek a respectful relationship with the United States.

When the Sandinistas first took office in 1979, they confiscated some private property and fought a civil war against American-backed rebels.

Mr Ortega won a presidential election in 1984, but lost the two subsequent elections to parties of the right.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service