Mauritania is holding parliamentary and local elections today despite being boycotted by almost all the radical opposition parties, the first since a military coup five years ago.

Opposition parties have however described the poll as an "electoral masquerade".

The main Islamist party, Tewassoul, is taking part, but in what it has termed as a struggle against a "dictatorship".

The leader of the Union for the Republic party, Mohamed, Ould Abdel Aziz, is expected to retain power.

Mr Abdel Aziz was elected as president a year after seizing power, but Mauritania's Islamist opposition have never accepted the result.

About a third of the country's 3.4 million population are eligible to vote.

There are some 1,500 candidates from 74 parties representing the administration and "moderate" opposition.

They are competing for 147 seats in parliament and the leadership of 218 local councils.