Chad votes for new president<\/p>\n
N'DJAMENA (Reuters): Chadians from northern desert to southern
\njungles voted on Sunday to decide who will rule the Central
\nAfrican country for the next five years, when oil money promises
\nto transform its desperately poor economy.<\/p>\n
President Idriss Deby, 49, hopes to extend more than a decade
\nof rule that began when he seized power at the head of a
\nlightning rebellion in the former French colony in 1990.<\/p>\n
Voting began after the scheduled 6 a.m. (11 a.m. in Jakarta)
\nstart in many parts of Chad, which is twice the size of its
\nformer colonial power, spanning black and Arab Africa and
\nstretching from the southern jungle to the middle of the Sahara
\ndesert.<\/p>\n
Hundreds gathered at polling booths in the capital, N'Djamena,
\nwith men and women in different lines. Some booths were
\nimprovised from sheets strung between road-side trees.<\/p>\n
Deby himself voted at a polling station in the agriculture
\nministry in central N'Djamena.<\/p>\n
\"I have come to do my duty as a citizen, and I hope the whole
\nChadian community will come out in large numbers to do their duty
\nin peace and unity,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Asked about his chances in the poll, he said: \"Let's wait and
\nsee.\"<\/p>\n
After voting, Deby shook hands with Ide Oumarou, spokesman for
\na group of international observers monitoring the poll and a
\nformer secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity.<\/p>\n
Ide said the vote in the capital appeared to have started well
\ndespite brief delays.<\/p>\n
\"If everything goes as it has here, it indicates a high
\nturnout. All is calm, orderly and peaceful. Our wish is that the
\nday continues as it has started,\" Ide told reporters.<\/p>\n
Deby is favorite to win. His main opponents are national
\nassembly speaker Wadel Abdelkader Kamougue, 62, a former rebel
\nleader who came second in the first multi-party election in 1996,
\nand Saleh Kebzabo, 54, who came third and then backed Deby in a
\nrun-off.<\/p>\n
Opposition candidates accuse Deby of planning to rig the vote,
\nrepeating claims made after the 1996 ballot.<\/p>\n
They have said they will join forces to back a single
\nchallenger if nobody wins an outright majority on Sunday and
\nvoting goes to a second round.<\/p>\n
Some 4.6 million Chadians are registered to vote, including
\nover half a million living abroad, mostly in Sudan, with which
\nDeby's home region in northeastern Chad has close links.<\/p>\n
Opposition candidates say voters' lists are inaccurate, but
\nIde said it was too early to say whether the ballot was fair or
\nnot.<\/p>\n
An important issue in the campaign is the project led by U.S.-
\nbased ExxonMobil Corp to pump oil from landlocked Chad via a
\npipeline through Cameroon to the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
The first oil is due to flow in 2003 and Deby's opponents say
\nhe did not negotiate a good enough deal. Deby is from the Muslim
\nnorth. Five of his challengers are from the south where there are
\nmany more Christians and animists.<\/p>",
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