2010420
aljazeera

The ruling party of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, and the largest party in the semi-autonomous south have agreed to accept the results of last week's elections.

Ballots are still being counted from the country's first multi-party polls in 24 years and the results, originally expected on Tuesday, have been delayed indefinitely.

But, despite the uncertainty over the counts, Ali Osman Taha, Sudan's second vice-president, said that his National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) had agreed to any rulings on the results.

"We agreed to accept the results as announced by the National Election Commission and to respect the decisions of the National Election Commission," Taha said after talks with Salva Kiir, the SPLM leader.

"We agreed to maintain an atmosphere of peace, as was the case during the election.

The SPLM, which dominates politics in the south of the country, on Monday accused the predominantly-northern NCP of preparing to rig the elections in Blue Nile state, which lies on the border between the two halves of the country.

Polling irregularities

Other parties have also accused the government of irregularities in polling and withdrew from some of the presidential, parliamentary and local ballots in protest before polling took place.

The withdrawals left Bashir almost certain of retaining the presidency and after the first day of counting of the legislative election ballots it became clear that his NCP would dominate parliament