Nepal votes in historic election

Kathmandu: Nepalese people queued from dawn on Thursday to cast their vote in the country's first election in nine years.

Poll opened at 7am to choose a 601-member assembly that will write a new constitution, abolish the 240-year-old monarchy and serve as parliament for at least two years.

The vote is the centrepiece of a 2006 peace deal with Maoist guerrillas to end a decade-long civil war.

At least 135,000 armed police, some in helicopters, have been deployed in and around Nepal to try to secure the election.

Armed groups have called for a boycott of the polls as the United Nations monitors said Maoist have intimidated voters and campaigning in some areas.