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Egypt election: Voters to elect president Egypt election: Voters to elect president
(about 5 hours later)
Egyptians have begun three days of voting to elect a new president, in an election expected to produce a landslide for the incumbent. Egyptians have begun three days of voting in an election widely expected to deliver a second four-year term for President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
There are few doubts that President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi will win a second term after most challengers withdrew. His sole challenger, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, is a little-known party leader who had supported him until his last-minute decision to enter the race.
The only other candidate is the little-known centrist politician Moussa Mostafa Moussa. Two other potential candidates dropped out, while a third was arrested.
But Mr Moussa is known to be a supporter of the president, and has said he supports Mr Sisi's re-election. Mr Sisi led the military's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
Egypt, which has a population of 95 million, is the largest Arab country and has played a central role in Middle Eastern politics in modern times. Since then, he has overseen what human rights group say is an unprecedented crackdown on dissent that has led to the detention of tens of thousands of people.
He has also faced an insurgency by jihadist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula, who have killed hundreds of security personnel and civilians in attacks.
Why are there only two candidates?Why are there only two candidates?
Seven candidates initially put themselves forward for the presidency but the majority of them pulled out of the race, including human rights lawyer Khalid Ali and former Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq. Among the potential challengers to Mr Sisi was Gen Sami Anan, a former military chief-of-staff. He is currently in prison after being arrested for announcing his candidacy without seeking the military's permission.
A former chief of staff in the Egyptian army, Sami Anan, was detained in January after announcing his intention to run. Another potential candidate was Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister who narrowly lost to Morsi in the 2012 election. He was deported from the United Arab Emirates after declaring his candidacy and dropped out a month later.
He was widely considered to be the last high-profile challenger to the president. The liberal opposition was represented by the human rights lawyer, Khaled Ali. But he also withdrew, saying the conditions did not allow for a fair contest.
It led some opposition figures to call for a boycott of the vote, but Mr Sisi's campaign spokesman said no candidates had been prevented from running. Mr Sisi was set to run unopposed, but hours before nominations were due to close Mr Moussa joined the race.
The authorities have been encouraging voter participation and buses with loudspeakers drove through the capital Cairo playing songs urging people to turn out and vote. Despite having previously endorsed the president for a second term, the al-Ghad party leader insisted that he would mount a full challenge to Mr Sisi. However, opposition activists dismissed Mr Moussa as a "puppet".
Mr Sisi insisted last week that the withdrawals were not his doing, telling an Egyptian TV channel: "I wish we had one, or two, or three, or 10 of the best people and you choose however you want."
Purple dye and patriotism
By Tom Bateman, BBC News, Cairo
Voting at one polling station in a central Cairo neighbourhood appeared orderly with a steady trickle of people coming and going.
One woman waving an Egyptian flag enthusiastically showed us the purple dye on her finger - used to prevent duplicate voting - on what is for many a patriotic day.
Posters plastered the street showing the incumbent president.
Radio and TV ads urged people to turn out to vote as authorities suggested participation was part of the fight against Islamists and unspecified "enemies".
The front page of a state-owned newspaper said: "Your vote is a bullet in the heart of your enemy."
Many analysts are watching the turnout as an important measure of the winner's mandate.
What are the key issues?What are the key issues?
Mr Sisi has been in power since 2013, when he led the military's overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi following mass protests against his rule. He then won a landslide in the 2014 presidential election. As he did four years ago, Mr Sisi has campaigned on a platform of "stability".
His supporters say his first term has brought stability to a country that has been rocked by unrest since 2011. Egypt has been plagued by unrest since a popular uprising forced long-time President Hosni Mubarak to step down during the so-called "Arab Spring" in 2011.
Egypt has witnessed the overthrow of two presidents since that year's Arab Spring protests. Mr Sisi's supporters argue that Egypt is now far more stable than when, as the military's commander-in-chief, he ousted Mubarak's democratically-elected successor.
But some critics have pointed to the controversial build-up to the vote and the lack of opposition. But critics say the stability has come at a heavy cost in human rights.
It is expected that Mr Sisi will win a second term comfortably but turnout figures are the main focus for many due to the calls for an opposition boycott. More than 1,000 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces, at least 60,000 people are reported to have been arrested or charged, hundreds have been handed preliminary death sentences, and hundreds more have gone missing.
Has there been unrest? Most of them have been supporters of Morsi's now-banned Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, but liberal and secular activists have also been targeted.
Ahead of the vote, the Egyptian interior ministry said police had killed six militants suspected of being behind a failed attempt to assassinate a security chief. Has there been any unrest?
General Mostafa al-Nemr escaped unhurt when a bomb that was left under a car in Alexandria exploded as he drove past. Two police officers were killed in the attack. The election is being held amid tight security, with police and soldiers deployed outside polling stations across the country.
In a statement, the ministry said it had tracked down a cell belonging to the Hasm movement and the militants were killed during an exchange of fire. The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) threatened to launch attacks ahead of the vote.
On Saturday, two policemen were killed in a car bombing that targeted the security chief in the city of Alexandria. Gen Mostafa al-Nemr escaped unharmed.
The interior ministry said late on Sunday that its forces had killed six militants believed to have been involved in the attack. It identified them as members of the Hasm movement, which it referred to as the armed wing of the Brotherhood.
Mr Sisi's supporters express confidence in the president's ability to enforce security across Egypt and put down the jihadist insurgency.
However, in November militants attacked a mosque in Northern Sinai province, killing more than 300 people. It was the deadliest attack in Egypt's modern history.