Egyptian expats begin voting in run-off

Around 20,000 Egyptians abroad have so far voted in the run-offs of Egypt's presidential elections in various consulates and embassies around the world. Voting for expat Egyptians opened on Sunday, the day after controversial verdicts in the Hosni Mubarak trial were handed down. In the United States Egyptian ambassador Sameh Shoukry said that the turnout was higher than duirng the first stage of voting. Kuwait showed the highest level of voting to date with 5360 voters. In Saudi Arabia, where the largest expat Egyptian community exists, turnout has also been higher. So far 2400 have cast their votes, while in the first round turnout stood at 1190 after the day one of voting. Doha and UAE witnessed high voting as well. In the UK, against a backdrop of the Royal Jubilee, voting continued both through post and at the embassy. Paris topped the voting race among Europe where 580 cast their ballots. Botros Ghali, president of the National Centre for Human Rights, is taking part in the monitoring in France. The expat vote is set to end on Thursday, June 9. Run-offs in Egypt are scheduled to take place on June 16 and 17. Competing for the run-offs are Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi.