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Yemenis vote in crucial election | Yemenis vote in crucial election |
(about 10 hours later) | |
Yemenis have voted in presidential elections that are seen as a test of the government's commitment to reform. | |
Four candidates are standing, including the incumbent Ali Abdullah Saleh, but he faces his first serious electoral challenge after 28 years in office. | |
The main challenger is Faisal Bin Shamlan, who says tackling corruption will be his main priority if elected. | The main challenger is Faisal Bin Shamlan, who says tackling corruption will be his main priority if elected. |
Voting was steady and mainly peaceful, though reports say three people were killed in a clash between supporters. | |
Witnesses said the fighting happened at a polling station that had been closed prematurely near the capital Sanaa. | |
href="/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_yemeni_voters_speak_/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_yemeni_voters_speak_/html/1.stm', '1158747372', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=400,left=312,top=100'); return false;">Yemenis discuss the election candidates and issues href="/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_yemeni_voters_speak_/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/middle_east_yemeni_voters_speak_/html/1.stm', '1158747372', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=400,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >In pictures The BBC's Heba Saleh in Sanaa says western donors are watching the polls closely. | |
If they are seen to be peaceful and reasonably democratic, donors could increase international aid, which the government says is needed to tackle Islamist militancy. | |
Security has been tight at the 5,500 polling stations, with 100,000 security personnel deployed throughout the country. | |
About 100 European observers were monitoring the vote, which started at 0800 local time (0500 GMT) and was scheduled to end at 1800 (1500 GMT). | |
'Voters' victory' | |
Many men arrived to vote in traditional clothes and with daggers in their belts while women - there are 3.9 million registered in an electorate of 9.25 million - turned up clothed from head to toe in black. | |
They stood in separate lines for booths and were searched by female police officers. | |
Incumbent Ali Abdullah Saleh faces a serious challengeMr Saleh cast his vote early, saying the real victor in the polls was the Yemeni people. | |
"Today is a real celebration of Yemen's democracy as we set the foundations for Yemen's future in peaceful alternation of power," Mr Saleh told reporters as he cast his ballot. | |
A coalition of opposition parties supporting Mr Shamlan, a former oil minister, accuses the ruling party of forging voter lists, and intimidating and arresting his supporters. | |
The other two candidates in the race are socialist party candidate Ahmed al-Majidi and Fathi al-Azab, who has urged his supporters to vote for Mr Shamlan. | |
Mr Shamlan's slogan, "a president at the service of Yemen, not Yemen at the service of the president", is an allusion to the alleged cronyism and corruption around Mr Saleh. | |
BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says a transition to democracy is far ahead of some other countries in Arabia, although power still rests primarily with tribes, the army and religious leaders. | |