Malians vote for president

Voters in Mali cast their ballots on Sunday in an election expected to give President Amadou Toumani Toure a second term at the helm of one of the world's poorest countries.
A steady trickle of voters turned out at polling stations in the capital Bamako and around the vast former French colony on the Sahara's southern edge to choose who will be president for the next five years.
Eight candidates including Toure are standing. "I respect my adversaries and only when the final results are published will we know who has won," said Toure, dressed in white robes and a Muslim cap, after voting in central Bamako.
"My wish is for a turnout which reflects our democratic culture," he told reporters as children and supporters mobbed him chanting "ATT", the initials by which he is popularly known.
If one candidate fails to win more than 50 percent on Sunday, the election will go to a second round. Soldiers guarded voting centres set up in schools and public buildings and early balloting was calm and orderly, a contrast to the violence and chaos that marred elections in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, this month.
Many of Mali's 6.9 million registered voters were expected to wait until late in the day, once the 40-degree heat subsided, to cast their ballots. Turnout in Malian elections has traditionally been low, because of high levels of illiteracy and voters in some rural areas having to walk long distances.
"The stakes are high because this country is among the most underdeveloped in the world. We have to choose someone who can set the right development priorities," said Cheikh Oumar Konate, 28, a school supervisor.
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Former coup leader Toure is favourite to win. He has centred his campaign on continuing a development programme which has brought roads and basic facilities to remote mud-hut villages.
Some, like his main election rival Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the national assembly president and former prime minister, say much more should have been done to fight poverty.
"People want change ... and it is certain that as of tomorrow there will be change," Keita said, casting his vote in his home neighbourhood of Sebenikoro in Bamako.
He repeated complaints of fraud and said electoral lists were out of date, ballot papers had been circulated before voting began and the military had been told to vote for Toure.
Toure's camp has dismissed the allegations as preparation for a challenge to the result if the president wins the first round outright with more than 50 percent of the votes.