[FACTBOX] Sudan's main presidential candidates

A dozen presidential candidates will stand in Sudan's April poll, all Muslim with one woman and one southerner among the contenders.

Here are profiles of some of the leading candidates:

Yasser Arman – Sudan People's Liberation Movement

Arman, 49, is a northern Muslim who joined the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 24 years ago.

He says his nomination proves the SPLM is a truly national party, and has vowed to win the votes of the millions of marginalized in Sudan, push through democratic reforms and prioritize development.

Some analysts say the SPLM's decision to nominate him, rather than party leader Salva Kiir, implies they are more interested in consolidating their position in the south than in winning the national poll.

Kiir is running in the separate poll for president of southern Sudan which is due to vote on independence in 2011.

Arman is married to a Christian Dinka from Abyei and has two daughters.

Omar Hassan al-Bashir – National Congress Party

Sudan's current president is a wanted man, with an arrest warrant hanging over his head from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes in Darfur.

If anything, Bashir's defiance of the warrant, and implicitly of the West, has enhanced his appeal among parts of the northern electorate.

That, combined with the domination of the army, the security services and state media by his National Congress Party has led many to see him as the favorite in the presidential race.

Bashir was an obscure army brigadier when he came to power in a bloodless coup in 1989 in an alliance with Islamists, deposing the country's last elected civilian government.

In the early years of his rule, he oversaw Sudan's transformation into a radical Islamic pariah state and provided a refuge for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Carlos the Jackal.

In 2005, he brought his country closer to the international fold with a peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

That progress was overshadowed by a revolt in Darfur.

Bashir has promised to resolve the Darfur conflict through negotiations and to enhance relations with the south, even if it chooses secession in a 2011 referendum.

Sadeq al-Mahdi – Umma Party

The head of the Umma party is revered by a large part of Sudan's northern population as a spiritual leader and a descendant of the self-proclaimed Mahdi, a visionary figure who fought the British in the 19th century.

In the elections, Mahdi will play on his democratic credentials as Sudan's last elected civilian prime minister and on the large support for his party's associated Islamic sect, the Ansar.

Oxford-educated, he served as prime minister twice until he was overthrown by Bashir in 1989. His party has suffered splits since his return from exile in 2000.

The Umma traditionally enjoyed mass support in Darfur. Many surmise a revolt which shattered the tribal administration could affect their influence there in April's vote.

Late last year, he was one of the driving forces behind a loose alliance between more than 20 parties, including the SPLM, the Communists and the Popular Congress Party (PCP).

Fatima Abdul Mahmoud – Sudanese democratic Socialist Union Party

Fatima Abdul Mahmoud will make history in April's elections as Sudan's first female presidential candidate.

The country's National Elections Commission initially rejected her nomination, surprising many commentators and sparking accusations of sexism from her supporters. A Sudanese court upheld her appeal and she was reinstated.

The 65-year-old pediatrician was also Sudan's first female minister in 1973. Her small party wants equality for women and for Sudan to pass a law ensuring a percentage of profits from oil and other resources gets passed onto the Sudanese people. She says women are the majority of the electorate and urges them to vote for candidates who want equal rights for women.

Abdul Mahmoud spent 10 years in parliament and says this election is a historic opportunity, as it guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to women.

Abdullah Deng Nhial – Popular Congress Party

Nhial is a south Sudanese Muslim who was part of Bashir's government before Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Turabi lost a bitter leadership battle in 1999-2000 and split to form his opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP).

PCP leader Turabi, who has spent years in jail or under house arrest since his rift with Bashir, said he wanted to show the PCP was a national party with no regard for race or ethnicity with the choice of Nhial to run for president.

From the largest southern Sudanese tribe, the Dinka, the 56- year-old is a relative of late SPLM leader John Garang.

He wants to reduce poverty by improving education, health and sanitation, and stamp out on corruption.

Nhial hopes that as the first south Sudanese president -- he is the only southern candidate -- he will encourage southerners to vote for unity in a 2011 referendum on independence.

He said his party would not enforce Islamic law in the south.

Hatim al-Sir – Democratic Unionist Party

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is considered to be one of the largest parties in north Sudan enjoying mass support from Muslims affiliated to the religious Khatmiyya sect.

In the last democratic elections in 1986, the DUP formed a coalition government with Mahdi and held the post of president, at that time a less influential position.

Al-Sir is a distant relative of the powerful al-Merghani family who lead the party. He grew up in the family home in Khartoum before leaving to follow the party's religious leader Mohamed Osman al-Merghani into exile in 1989.

The Khatmiyya believe the al-Merghanis are descendents of the Prophet Mohammed.

Observers say al-Sir is trusted implicitly by the party powerhouse Mohamed Osman al-Merghani who prefers to lead from "behind the scenes."

Despite the party having split many times, DUP leader al- Merghani still commands a major following. He was nominated with more than 44,000 signatures.