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Egypt back in elections
Egypt resumed its first free presidential election on Thursday after a first day of voting that passed off mostly calmly, apart from a stone-throwing attack on candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was premier for a few days before Hosni Mubarak fell.
The second day of voting in Egypt begins today after what was a mostly peaceful first day Wednesday
The race broadly pits Islamist candidates against secular ones like Shafiq and Amr Moussa, the former Arab League chief who previously served as Mubarak's foreign minister.
Turnout on Wednesday seemed lower than in an earlier parliamentary vote when Islamists swept up most seats. Long queues and a scorching sun deterred some voters and many government workers will have delayed voting to Thursday, when they have a day off.
More than 100 voters were already queuing at one Cairo voting station when the polls reopened at 8am.
The vote is a crucial stage in a turbulent army-led transition racked by protests, violence and political disputes. The generals who took charge when Mubarak was ousted on 11 February, 2011, have promised to hand over to the new president by 1 July.
Even then the army, with its privileges and vast business interests, is expected to wield influence for years to come. A tussle over who should write the constitution also means the new president will not know his own powers when he is elected.
Mubarak, 84, is on trial for ordering the killing of protesters and for corruption. A verdict is due on 2 June.
