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Sudan’s opposition National Umma Party (NUP) has belied press reports quoting its imprisoned leader al-Sadiq al-Mahdi as saying that he is committed to national dialogue despite his detention.

The NUP politburo in statement on Tuesday, said al-Mahdi is not in a position that would allow him to make statements, stressing that the party institutions are the only credible source of information conveyed from its leader.

It accused the government and its followers of promoting those statements in order to undermine the NUP stances and discredit its leader’s firm positions.

Syrians began voting on Tuesday in an election expected to deliver an overwhelming victory to President Bashar Assad in the midst of a civil war that has fractured the country and killed more than 160,000 people.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) in parts of Syria under Assad's government control.

"We hope for security and stability," said Hussam al-Din al Aws, an Arabic teacher who was the first person to vote at one polling station at a Damascus secondary school. Asked who would win, he responded: "God willing, President Bashar al-Assad."

With the procedure for the establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate four former ministers already delayed due to the failure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to nominate its members, the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office has also vetoed a majority of opposition nominees.

Thousands of Syrians lined up outside polling centers in government-controlled areas around the country to vote Tuesday in the presidential election that Bashar Assad is widely expected to win but which has been denounced by critics as a sham.

The balloting comes amid a devastating, three-year civil war that activists say has killed more than 160,000 people, about a third of whom were civilians. It's also Syria's first multi-candidate election in more than 40 years.

Suite aux événements survenus à Kidal, les Fare ont publié une déclaration donnant leur position.

In a new presidential decree, President Hamid Karzai has explicitly mandated that the security forces involved in maintaining the safety of election staff, voters and candidates must not interfere in the process.

The Democratic Party says though it will officially remain neutral in the July 9 presidential election, it will allow its members to vote how the please.

Democratic Party deputy secretary-general Ramadhan Pohan said party chairman President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not push party members toward either presidential ticket.

Presidential hopeful Joko Widodo has said that he wants a “no-condition coalition” formed without horse trading for cabinet seats, but analysts are sceptical that his vision will be achieved.

The presidential hopeful said he wants to build a new tradition devoid of these petty political transactions that swell the number of cabinet seats.