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| Liberia election: Sirleaf faces Tubman challenge | Liberia election: Sirleaf faces Tubman challenge |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Long queues have formed outside polling stations, as Liberia prepares for its second election since the end of a 14-year civil war. | Long queues have formed outside polling stations, as Liberia prepares for its second election since the end of a 14-year civil war. |
| President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is expected to face her strongest challenge from former UN envoy Winston Tubman, a nephew of an ex-president. | President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is expected to face her strongest challenge from former UN envoy Winston Tubman, a nephew of an ex-president. |
| Africa's first elected female head of state was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. | Africa's first elected female head of state was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. |
| But Mr Tubman, 70, says she has not done enough to tackle corruption. | But Mr Tubman, 70, says she has not done enough to tackle corruption. |
| Mrs Sirleaf won the 2005 elections after the conflict ended in 2003. | Mrs Sirleaf won the 2005 elections after the conflict ended in 2003. |
| She defeated former football star George Weah, who is Mr Tubman's running mate this time. | She defeated former football star George Weah, who is Mr Tubman's running mate this time. |
| The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in the capital, Monrovia, says people started queuing to vote before dawn despite the heavy rain. | The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in the capital, Monrovia, says people started queuing to vote before dawn despite the heavy rain. |
| He says everything appears ready at the polling station where he is in the city centre. | |
| Mrs Sirleaf had said she would only seek a single term but explained her U-turn by saying she wanted to finish the work she had started. | |
| Our correspondent says central Monrovia has been transformed since the end of the war, with roads paved and many new buildings. | |
| While Mrs Sirleaf is well regarded by the international community, some analysts she is less popular at home and predict a tight race, possibly going to a run-off. | |
| Her 15 challengers accuse her of not doing enough to improve the lives of ordinary people, who remain among the poorest in the world. | |
| "One out of every three Liberians cannot feed themselves. They live in abject poverty. And they couldn't care less about the Nobel prize," said 60-year-old opposition candidate Charles Brumskine. | |
| The campaigning was generally peaceful but some 8,000 UN peacekeepers have spread across the country to prevent any violence. | |
| Voting is due to end at 18:00 GMT. | |
| Voters are also choosing 88 members of the legislature. | |
| Liberia is Africa's oldest republic - it was founded in 1847 by freed US slaves, hence its name. |