YEMENIS VOTE IN CRUCIAL ELECTION !

Yemenis are looking for economic growth and an end to corruption. Yemenis are voting in presidential and local elections being seen as a test of the government's commitment to reform.
Four candidates are running against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 28 years.
The main challenger is Faisal Bin Shamlan, who says tackling corruption will be his main priority if elected.
Security is tight after the authorities said last week they had foiled a pair of apparently co-ordinated suicide attacks against oil installations.
The authorities say 100,000 security personnel have been deployed.
About 100 European observers are monitoring the vote, which started at 0800 local time (0500 GMT).
Mr Saleh cast his vote early. "The Yemeni people are the victorious ones," he said.

Crucial vote

The BBC's Heba Saleh, reporting from Sanaa, says the elections could prove crucial for the future of Yemen's relations with the West.
The country is an ally in the US administration's "war on terror". But some accuse it of not doing all it could to stamp out the presence of the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda on its territory.

Yemenis discuss the election candidates and issues.

In pictures

But Yemen is poor and has few resources. Officials in Sanaa argue they cannot win against al-Qaeda without substantial development aid.
They say prosperity, jobs and investments are needed to prevent the radicalisation of Yemeni youth.
But international donors do not want to pour funds into a dictatorship which corruption is rife, our correspondent says, and much may depend on the conduct of the election.
European observers are monitoring the election and if they judge it to have been reasonably democratic, that could dramatically improve relations with foreign donors.
Stinging slogan
BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says that only one the four challengers to Mr Saleh, veteran politician Faisal Bin Shamlan, is a serious rival.

Incumbent Ali Abdullah Saleh faces a serious challenge.
His slogan, "A president at the service of Yemen, not Yemen at the service of the president", is a stinging allusion to the alleged cronyism and corruption around Mr Saleh.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and a hotbed of militant Islam, Magdi Abdelhadi says.
It has the appearance of a modern state - an elected parliament and a cabinet - but in reality power rests with the tribe, the army and religious leaders.
Despite its drawbacks, transition to democracy in Yemen is far ahead of some of its Gulf neighbours, where the formation of political parties remains forbidden.

BBC NEWS REPORT.