Both of President Bashir's main rivals, Sadiq al-Mahdi of Umma and Yassir Arman of the former southern rebels, the SPLM, are boycotting the presidential election.

BBC: Sudan President Bashir insists elections will be fair

The removal of Mr Turabi has cleared the way for the government to make its peace with two exiled northern politicians, Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, and Muhammad Osman Mirghani, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

ECONOMIST: Sudan��s chance for peace

Now a 57 state collective which includes every Islamic nation on earth, the OIC, currently headed by Turkey's Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, thus represents the entire Muslim umma (or global community of individual Muslims), and is the largest single voting bloc in the United Nations (UN).

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Apostasy and the Islamic Nations