Voting slow in Sudan

Electors are faced with a choice of Bashir (top) or Nimeiri

Voting in Sudan is reported to have been slow as presidential and parliamentary elections got underway.

Correspondents say voter apathy was most evident in the capital, Khartoum, with polling stations all but empty for the first few hours.

The elections are just lipstick they're trying to put on their ugly military face

Detained human rights activist Ghazi Suleiman

Correspondents say many people doubt whether the president, Omar al-Bashir, can be defeated in the vote - a response to the main opposition parties' boycott of the poll.

President Bashir - who came to power in a military coup 11 years ago - is standing for a second term; his challengers include a former military ruler, Jaafar Nimeiri - who was deposed in 1985 after 16 years in power.

The elections will last for 10 days although no voting will take place in rebel-controlled areas in the south.

The European Union declined an invitation to monitor the vote, but the Arab League and the Organisation of African Unity have sent observers.

The parliament is currently dominated by the ruling National Congress party and nearly one-third of the MPs are being returned unopposed to the 360 seat National Assembly.

Boycott

The government says it is pressing ahead to fill the vacuum left when President Bashir dissolved parliament last December.

Hassan al-Turabi: Lost out in power struggle

This followed a split within the Islamist regime when Mr Bashir sidelined Hassan Turabi, its former ideologue.

Hassan Turabi, who set up his own Popular Congress Party, is boycotting the poll.

Even Sadiq declined to stand, despite returning from exile

So too, is the country's last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, who returned from exile last month, hoping to push for greater political pluralism in Sudan.

Sudan has 12 million registered voters in a population of some 30 million and voting will continue until 22 December.