苏丹总统警告选举观察员禁止干预选举

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has threatened to kick out foreign election monitors, after they suggested next month's vote should be delayed.

某些外国选举观察员向苏丹总统奥马尔·巴希尔建议下周的选举应当延期，巴希尔借此威胁要将其赶出苏丹。

Omar al-Bashir is favourite to win re-election as president

Mr Bashir said if the observers intervened（干预，插手） in Sudan's affairs, "we will cut off（切断） their fingers and crush them under our shoes".

The US-funded Carter Center recently suggested the 11 April election should be postponed¹ amid security concerns.

The poll will be the first genuinely multi-party vote since 1986.

But opposition² politicians have repeatedly suggested that the election should be put back（推迟，倒退） amid chronic³（长期的） instability in the south and a continuing refugee crisis in the Darfur region.

Recovery from war

The Carter Center, which runs the only long-term monitoring mission in the country, said last week that the poll was "at risk on multiple fronts".

"Logistical preparations are straining（拉进，竭尽全力） the limited capacity of the NEC [National Election Commission]," the centre said.

"With a series of delays and changes in polling procedures, a minor⁴ delay in polling for operational purposes may be required."

Human Rights Watch said on Sunday that government repression⁵ of its opponents was and its tight control of the media was threatening the chances of holding a credible⁶ election.

However, the NEC said on Monday that the election would go ahead as planned.

And Mr Bashir told his supporters in the eastern town of Port Sudan: "We have accepted the arrival of foreign observers for the elections, but if they ask that the vote be postponed, we will expel（驱逐） them.

"We expect observers to say whether the elections are free and fair, but if they intervene in our affairs, then we will cut off their fingers and crush them under our shoes."

The general election will be the first since the end of a two decade civil war in 2005.

The 22-year conflict between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian⁷ and animist south claimed the lives of some 1.5 million people.

Violence between rival ethnic⁸ group continues to claim hundreds of lives each year in the south, making it difficult to ensure security during the election.

In Darfur, hundreds of thousands of people still live in refugee camps after a separate conflict.

Mr Bashir, who is wanted by international prosecutors⁹ for war crimes in Darfur, seized power in a bloodless coup¹⁰（政变） in 1989.

He has been elected as president twice in polls which were boycotted¹¹（联合抵制） by most opposition parties.

He remains¹² popular in the north of the country and is expected to be re-elected as president.