Tens of Thousands in capital register for elections

Just over 115,000 voters, 95 percent of the eligible electorate, have registered in Bissau for general elections in November, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)has said. Bissau, the capital, accounts for some 20 percent of the country's estimated one million people. In its situation report for 1 to 15 September, OCHA said voter registration in the rest of the country was held from 29 August to 9 September. Approximately 2,000 potential voters have registered in Portugal. Two independent presidential candidates have registered with the Comissao Nacional de Eleicoes (CNE), although several others have made their intention to run publicly known. The prime minister's adviser, Faustino Mbali, declared his candidacy on 12 September and human rights activist Fernando Gomes announced his bid early in September. General elections are due on 28 November under an agreement signed late in 1998 by the then president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, and a self-styled Military Junta which overthrew him in May 1999.