News Article by AFP posted on November 02, 2000 at 07:20:43: EST (-5 GMT)
UN agrees to monitor Sudanese elections, election chief says
KHARTOUM, Nov 2 (AFP) - The United Nations has agreed to monitor
next
month's legislative and presidential elections in Sudan, the
country's
election watchdog said Thursday.
General Electoral Commission Chairman Abdel Monim al-Zain
al-Nahas told
reporters that he had received a message from the
United Nations accepting an
invitation to supervise the elections
from December 11-20.
An advance UN delegation would arrive here from Geneva Friday to
examine
electoral preparations that began October 25, he added.
He added that representatives of member states of the
non-aligned movement
at UN headquarters in New York had shown a
willingness to take part in the
monitoring.
The UN decision to monitor the vote follows a similar one by the
Arab
League.
The GEC has also extended invitations to the Organisation of
African
Unity, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, the European
Union and other
organisations to supervise balloting.
The vote to elect Sudan's president and members of parliament
will start
on December 11 and run for 10 days, with results to be
announced on December
24.
Some Sudanese opposition groups have charged that the elections
will be
rigged while others say the government should concentrate on
finding a
peaceful end to 17 years of civil war before organising
elections.