20100410
ALALAM

Sudanese security forces, UN peacekeepers, international organizations and the people of Sudan have all boosted security measures ahead of the nation's general elections.

Embassies in the Sudanese capital have advised their citizens to adopt "precautionary measures," in the event of demonstrations.

"We have planned for more than 100,000 police officers to supervise the elections (in North Sudan)," General Mohammed Ahmed Ali, in charge of election security, said earlier this week.

The security forces are increasingly visible in Khartoum, amid rumors that some residents have left the city as a precautionary measure.

The United Nations "blue helmets will ensure safety in areas where the threats of armed conflict are present," said Haile Menkerios, a UN special representative in Sudan.

The United Nations has nearly 10,000 soldiers and police officers in south Sudan and in border regions.

The southern former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) threatened it was withdrawing from the vote in all northern areas except disputed districts of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

The party's candidate, Yasser Arman, has claimed: "These elections are not about the crises Sudan is facing. Things will be worse after the elections."

The SPLM is still campaigning strongly to head the autonomous regional government that will rule the south up to a promised referendum on independence next January, and its leader Salva Kiir wrapped up his campaign with a rally in the regional capital Juba.