The Latest: Congo polls open for presidential election

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) " The Latest on Congo's presidential election (all times local):

7:20 a.m.

Polls opened and people began voting in Congo for the long-delayed presidential election, amid worries over the exclusion of three cities from the voting.

"We declare the polling station open" said Francoise Ntadianga Tshiela, head of the the Gombe Institute voting center in the heart of Kinshasa, surrounded by embassies and government offices.

Some unrest is feared in the election after a last-minute decision to bar an estimated 1 million people from voting because of a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the east. The decision has been widely criticized as threatening the credibility of the election.

Two main opposition candidates, Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, are challenging President Joseph Kabila's preferred successor, the European Union-sanctioned former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

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AP writers Saleh Mwanimilongo and Mathilde Boussion contributed to this from Kinshasa, Congo.