Niger's first elected leader to see his term through without assassination or overthrow faced five challengers Tuesday in an election that aims to consolidate democracy in the coup-prone nation. Helicopters shuttled ballots to remote nomads on the Sahara's edge. President Mamadou Tandja voted early at the capital, Niamey, urging his 5.3 million fellow voters to "go vote in calm and in serenity." Tandja first won elections overseen by a transition government in 1999, after presidential guards armed with an anti-aircraft gun assassinated his military predecessor on the tarmac at an airport ceremony.
| Musta looked like a red Swiss cheese when they were done with him... |
Tandja, 66, won 60 percent of the vote five years ago in the uranium-rich, cash-poor nation. He was expected to prevail in the new elections, which will go to a second round if no candidate wins an outright majority. |