The first day of polling for a new parliament was mainly peaceful.

Voting was extended to cope with long queues and few security problems were reported.

Many protesters occupying Cairo's Tahrir Square have boycotted the vote.

There had been fears the vote might be delayed after deadly protests against the interim military rulers who replaced Mr Mubarak.

The protesters fear the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, which is overseeing the transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule, is trying to retain power.

At least 41 demonstrators have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the past 10 days, as tensions have flared in the Arab world's most populous state.