Opposition campaigning to proceed unimpeded

Election campaigning by opposition candidates for parliamentary and presidential elections planned for 11 December will go ahead without interference from the security forces, according to the authorities in Khartoum. Police Maj-Gen Muhammad Ahmad Afi said on state television that security forces would be “very tolerant”. Afi said, in an interview monitored by the BBC on 5 December, that the police had offered the candidates “all the opportunities to put forward their election manifestoes and their views without interference”. Campaigning in the presidential elections was intensifying, with candidates addressing public rallies and touring with election programmes, state media reported.