Queues as Egypt votes in first post-Mubarak elections
Queues have formed at many polling stations as Egyptians vote in the first elections since former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.
Polling started late in some places because of administrative problems, but officials have now extended voting hours there to midnight local time.
At the same time, Cairo＇s Tahrir Square is still occupied by protesters who want the poll to be postponed.
The head of the ruling military council has said Egypt is "at a crossroads".
"Either we succeed - politically, economically and socially - or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that," Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said in a statement on Sunday.
The last nine days have seen a revival of the protest movement which forced Mr Mubarak from office, with some days seeing thousands of people gathered at its hub, in Tahrir Square.
At least 41 protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded as tensions flared in recent days in the Arab world＇s most populous state.
The protesters fear the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces led by Field Marshal Tantawi, which is overseeing the transition to democratic rule, is trying to retain power.
＇Voters are energised＇
Early on Monday, queues formed outside polling stations in Cairo before the official opening time of 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
A high turnout has been reported in many areas, and in places queues were said to stretch up to 3km (two miles).
"Before we knew in advance who was going to dominate. So apathy was the order of the day," Alexandria taxi driver Etimad Sameh told Reuters news agency. "Today we don＇t know what the outcome will be. Voters are energised."
Officials blamed a delay to the voting in some Cairo constituencies on the late arrival of ballot papers and a shortage of ink and administrative officers.
The head of the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections, Judge Abdel Moez Ibrahim, said voting would be extended until midnight in all constituencies affected by a late start.
Problems elsewhere included campaigning on voting day - a violation of election rules - while in Assiut, in the south, the army said it had regained control after a shooting incident.
Officials denied reports that voters there had attacked polling stations.
There have also been reports that in Cairo and Port Said, candidates＇ numbers on voting cards had been changed.
Leftist candidate Al-Badry Farghali, in Port Said, told the BBC this had happened to him and another candidate, George Ishaq, a well-known activist.
Complicated process
Voters in nine provinces, including Cairo, Port Said, Alexandria and Assiut are casting ballots on Monday and Tuesday in the first stage of a process extending until March.
Other provinces take their turns through December and early January for elections to the 508-member People＇s Assembly.
Voting for the upper house, or Shura Assembly, of parliament takes place after that and the presidential election is supposed to be held by mid-2012.
About 50 million people are eligible to vote out of a population in excess of 85 million - with candidates from 50 registered political parties.
The new parliament is likely have a strong Islamist bloc led by the Muslim Brotherhood, liberal groupings and some reconditioned relics of Hosni Mubarak＇s old party, says the BBC＇s Kevin Connolly in Cairo.
Official results from the first phase of voting should be announced on Wednesday, but the final make-up of the lower and upper house of parliament will not be clear until March.
In a separate development early on Monday, a pipeline in Egypt which supplies Israel and Jordan with natural gas was attacked by saboteurs, Egypt＇s Mena state news agency said.
Witnesses reported seeing masked men driving away from the pipeline, close to the town of Arish, before two blasts were heard. It is the ninth such attack on the pipeline this year.
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