Traffic has returned to the Forth Road Bridge after the completion of temporary repairs.

The first cars were allowed back onto the crossing at 05:20 after engineers welded a splint onto damaged steelwork.
Heavy goods vehicles will remain banned until further work is carried out, with this scheduled for completion by "mid-February".
The bridge was closed to all traffic on 4 December after a crack was discovered in a truss under the carriageway.
Five heavy lorries have been turned away from the bridge since it reopened.
Bridge operating company Amey said vehicles weighing over seven and a half tonnes are prevented from using the bridge until permanent repairs to a cracked steel truss are made.
Scottish Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown met the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association to discuss the problems being caused to operators by the ban on heavy lorries.
Mr Brown said: "Today's discussions with the freight trade associations were very constructive and we have agreed a five point plan to keep HGVs moving as works continue on the Forth Road Bridge.
"Both associations stressed the importance of the relaxation of drivers hours being extended to allow continued flexibility. I assured them that we are taking this forward with the UK Government and European Commission, based on evidence from the freight associations.
Director of the Road Haulage Association in Scotland Martin Reid said: "The RHA welcomes the ongoing dialogue with the minister and Transport Scotland as it is imperative that the interests of road hauliers are recognised, particularly while the essential maintenance is being undertaken at the Forth Road Bridge.
"It is absolutely essential for the Scottish economy that delivery routes are as free of congestion and hindrance as possible especially while hauliers are faced with additional costs due to the diversions in place."
The FTA's Head of Policy for Scotland Chris MacRae said: "The Freight Transport Association is grateful to Transport Scotland and the Scottish government for recognising the importance of keeping freight traffic moving at the busiest time of year for the industry.
"We will seek feedback from our members on how they are being affected by the extended closure of the bridge to goods vehicles in excess of 7.5 tonnes."
In normal operation, the bridge handles 80,000 vehicles each day and closure had caused significant disruption.
Bridge operator, Amey, said: "Traffic has been running very well all day since the bridge reopened. There have been no queues and no delays."
The partial re-opening is ahead of schedule, with officials having previously estimated that the temporary repairs would not be completed until after the Christmas holidays.
Police officers were stationed at both ends of the bridge on Wednesday to redirect any vehicle over 7.5 tonnes.
A police spokesman said the continued ban on HGVs was being well adhered to. By midday five lorries had been turned away.
HGVs account for 32% of the weight the bridge normally carries despite making up approx 9% of overall traffic.
Scottish government transport minister Derek Mackay said the estimated reopening date for HGVs of mid-February "felt accurate" based on the work programme but it was weather dependent and assumed no further faults were found.
He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I am very certain that we'll meet that date of mid-February for the bridge to be open to HGVs.
"Of course it's good news this morning that it's open to 90% of traffic and HGVs should follow early next year. Mid-February is as accurate a date I can give based on engineers' opinion at this time."
Mr Mackay said the revised date for full reopening was based on data gathered from load testing.
"We weren't satisfied with the results. That's why further strengthening works are required. It's partly a precautionary measure to give us absolute certainly that it's safe and effective to allow HGVs across from mid February."


Two men have been arrested following an alleged hit-and-run in Barnsley.

Richard Broughton, 37, died on Sunday after he was knocked down by a car in Elsecar at around 19:00 GMT on Friday.
The car did not stop at the scene. South Yorkshire Police has since recovered a vehicle in connection with the crash.
A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and a 35-year-old man has been held on suspicion of violent disorder.
Both men remain in custody.
Police said a disturbance was reported prior to the incident on Welland Crescent.
Officers have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.


Countries involved in the Afghan peace process say direct talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban are expected to take place in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in the first week of March.

It would be the first such meeting of the two sides since July when Kabul-Taliban talks were held - also in Pakistan - but soon fell apart. Since then the Quadrilateral Group (Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US) has met several times - while in Afghanistan the Taliban have stepped up their offensive even through the harsh winter months.
As the Afghans and other nations have made clear, a successful outcome for these talks to lead to an eventual ceasefire and a detailed political roadmap will heavily depend on how far Pakistan is prepared to go to put pressure on the Taliban leadership to compromise. Most Taliban leaders and their families have been ensconced in Peshawar and Quetta since 2001 when they fled there after the US-led alliance drove them from power.
The risks of not pressurising the Taliban leaders are obvious and hold much danger for Pakistan too. Afghanistan is facing a multi-dimensional civil war with the Taliban now being aided by a plethora of groups such as al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Chechens and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
On 28 January, Lt Gen John Nicholson Jr, President Barack Obama's choice to become the new commander of US forces in Afghanistan, agreed with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who described the security situation in Afghanistan as "deteriorating". More US special forces, drones and aircraft have been deployed to southern Afghanistan, which faces the greatest Taliban threat.
However Afghan, American and Nato officials all agree that the  bulk of Taliban supplies (arms, ammunition, food, clothing) is still coming from inside Pakistan, as are large numbers of recruits from the 2.5 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan - even though it is clear that such supplies are not being given by Islamabad. Instead, the Taliban are buying such goods locally or importing from the Gulf states and trucking them into Afghanistan via Pakistan. Pakistan has done little to curtail this traffic or block the border passes used by Taliban transport.
Pakistan's army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, has pledged to fight terrorism on all fronts, not to be selective towards groups the army once favoured and to foster peace in Afghanistan. He has already been successful in undermining some militant groups in the south and north of Pakistan.
Clearly the Pakistani authorities are strategically committed to ending all sources of terrorism on their soil but tactically there is still a long delay in dealing with the Afghan Taliban and the multiple extremist groups in Punjab province who are mainly targeting India.
So far the army has dealt lethal blows to the Pakistani Taliban on the border with Afghanistan and addressed the issue of militancy and criminality in Karachi. On 24 February Gen Sharif gave orders for the final push into North Waziristan to eliminate all Pakistani Taliban from what is the most difficult terrain along the common border. The army has been fighting the Pakistani Taliban in this region for nearly two years.
However, there is no such pressure on the Afghan Taliban living in Pakistan. They should now be told to either seek peace with Kabul or leave Pakistan.
At the same time many Pakistani Taliban have escaped across the border and are now living under the protection of the Afghan Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. These groups periodically cross back into Pakistan and launch vicious attacks. By letting Pakistani Taliban shelter within the ranks and territory of the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan's authorities are allowing a direct assault on the country's interests. But it is this realisation which is still missing from the military's calculus.
Unless Pakistan moves more swiftly to pressure the Afghan Taliban to hold a serious and productive peace dialogue with Kabul, the worsening military situation in Afghanistan is likely to have an impact on Pakistan as well.
The Taliban are on the verge of capturing the southern province and heroin-growing centre of Helmand. They successfully cut all electricity to Kabul for a month by blowing up pylons in Baghlan province that brought power from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Morale is desperately low among local Afghan officials and troops.
In at least three eastern provinces bordering Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban are also fighting the so-called Islamic State group, which is trying to recruit among dissatisfied Taliban members. Not until the end of January were US special forces in Afghanistan given authorisation to go after IS fighters in the country - one reflection of how lackadaisically the Pentagon is responding to the crisis there.
From afar, it may seem good that the extremists are fighting among themselves but such fighting is claiming the lives of many civilians and also could easily spill over into Pakistan, where IS is also trying to establish its presence.
Most Pakistanis want to believe Gen Sharif that the army is serious about eliminating all forms of terrorism, while the Afghan government is equally keen to see signs that Pakistan is putting pressure on the Afghan Taliban on its soil.
The outcome of the talks in March will be critical because if they fail then we can expect a massive Taliban summer of violence in Afghanistan which will also spill over into Pakistan.


Greece's economy will contract a further 3%, Athens minister Rania Antonopoulos has told me in a BBC interview.

The alternate minister for combating unemployment, who was a professional economist, said that the combination of the closure of the banks and austerity measures being forced on the country by eurozone and IMF creditors will tip Greece back into serious recession.
She also told me that she felt the government of Alexis Tsipras could remain in power, in spite of accepting a bailout deal at least as onerous as one rejected by it and Greek people in a referendum.
She would not be quitting, she said - although she did not hide her deep distaste for the tax rises and spending cuts being forced on her administration.
She did not know which, if any, of her ministerial colleagues would resign.
Mr Tsipras had no choice but to capitulate in the face of pressure from creditors, led by Germany, because the alternative was the complete collapse of the banks, and the meltdown of the economy.
The alternative of quitting the euro could not be considered, she said, because Syriza had no mandate for that.
She would not be drawn on whether she was personally in favour of exit from the eurozone.
Even with the rescue agreed, subject to Athens parliamentary approval, and the approval of other eurozone parliaments - including the Bundestag in Germany - restrictions on withdrawals from Greek banks (capital controls) would remain for some time, she said.


Watford stunned FA Cup holders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to book their place in the semi-finals at Wembley.

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Odion Ighalo scored his first goal in 599 minutes to put the away side ahead early in the second half after Arsenal had spurned a series of good chances.
Adlene Guedioura then smashed home with the visitors' second shot on target.
Substitute Danny Welbeck scored with two minutes left to set up a dramatic finish, before missing the chance to force a replay from an open goal.
With Costel Pantilimon beaten after an Alex Iwobi effort had come back off the post, Welbeck could only stab the ball agonisingly wide as he struggled to keep his balance on the turn.
Relive Watford's victory over Arsenal
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Following defeats by Swansea and Barcelona, this was Arsenal's third consecutive loss at the Emirates - their worst home run since moving from Highbury in 2006.
And it could have been worse for the Gunners, with defender Gabriel fortunate to escape punishment for a two-footed tackle on Troy Deeney before the break.
Defeat here to Swansea in early March saw Arsenal's Premier League aspirations take a serious blow, and with the gap to leaders Leicester having since moved out to eight points, winning the title looks very unlikely.
Then followed their 2-0 reverse at home to Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. Not many Gunners fans will be betting against the Spanish side progressing at their expense in the second leg on Wednesday.
Victory in this year's FA Cup was without a doubt the club's best chance of silverware. And it would have been Wenger's seventh triumph, making him the most successful manager in the history of the competition.
Now, though, the pressure will be on the Frenchman like never before during his near 20-year reign in north London.
If Arsenal's two consecutive FA Cup trophies were supposed to demonstrate progress towards winning the league or the Champions League, what does this season's disappointing exit herald?
In the opening period Ighalo - who had not scored since January during the fourth-round win against Nottingham Forest - looked a pale shadow of the player he was in the first half of the season.
How goals transform a striker's confidence though, and when the opener came it had a very familiar feel about it.
Strike-partner Troy Deeney provided the assist, as he has for so many of Ighalo's 17 goals, rising above both Calum Chambers and Per Mertesacker to flick on to the Nigerian, who spun away from Gabriel to fire home on the turn.
It was a familiar goal for Arsenal, too. Once again they had gone behind after failing to make their early dominance tell, and once again the defending was soft.
No such criticisms could be made of Watford's second though; Guedioura's stunning strike soared into the top corner.
But clearly Arsenal were left vulnerable by the chances they failed to take, with Mohamed Elneny spurning two clear first-half openings.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "Our fantastic run has come to an end on a day where we felt that our performance deserved a win. Credit to Watford, they created few chances but took them all. It's sad because we gave everything.
"The players don't miss on purpose. You have to be realistic. Of course on the first goal, we made a mistake.
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"It is very difficult against Barcelona, but we have to see it as a challenge and try to make the impossible possible."
Watford manager Quique Flores: "It was difficult in the first half, we tried to contain Arsenal and then try to create attempts and play well.
"In the last two months we were being competitive, but not winning. I feel fantastic, I'm really happy for the players and the fans. They follow us and it is an amazing prize for them.
"I have memories on television of the old Wembley and watching in Spain and seeing the finals of this competition. I've just arrived in England, and to get there is exciting."
Arsenal's next match is Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg away to Barcelona (19:45 GMT), with the Gunners 2-0 down from the home tie. Watford next play at home to Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
Match ends, Arsenal 1, Watford 2.
Second Half ends, Arsenal 1, Watford 2.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Sebastian Prödl (Watford) because of an injury.
Attempt blocked. Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner,  Arsenal. Conceded by Craig Cathcart.
Attempt blocked. Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Francis Coquelin.
Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Kieran Gibbs.
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) hits the left post with a right footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
Attempt blocked. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mesut Özil.
Attempt missed. Nordin Amrabat (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Goal!  Arsenal 1, Watford 2. Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Mesut Özil following a corner.
Corner,  Arsenal. Conceded by Craig Cathcart.
Attempt blocked. Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Almen Abdi (Watford).
Attempt blocked. Troy Deeney (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ikechi Anya.
Attempt missed. Calum Chambers (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nordin Amrabat (Watford).
Substitution, Watford. Nordin Amrabat replaces Odion Ighalo because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Odion Ighalo (Watford) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
Attempt blocked. Ben Watson (Watford) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ikechi Anya with a headed pass.
Corner,  Watford. Conceded by Calum Chambers.
Substitution, Watford. Almen Abdi replaces Adlène Guédioura.
Offside, Watford. Costel Pantilimon tries a through ball, but Odion Ighalo is caught offside.
Mesut Özil (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Mesut Özil (Arsenal).
Valon Behrami (Watford) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Watford. Ikechi Anya replaces Etienne Capoue because of an injury.
Corner,  Arsenal. Conceded by Nathan Aké.
Offside, Watford. Costel Pantilimon tries a through ball, but Odion Ighalo is caught offside.
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Troy Deeney (Watford).
Substitution, Arsenal. Theo Walcott replaces Olivier Giroud.
Substitution, Arsenal. Danny Welbeck replaces Joel Campbell.
Substitution, Arsenal. Alex Iwobi replaces Mohamed Elneny.


A man has been charged after an attempted carjacking at a supermarket car park in Manchester.

The car's owner came out of Aldi in Gorton, Manchester on Monday, as a man allegedly forced his wife and son, 5, out of the car and tried to drive off.
As the vehicle reversed, owner Tahir Mehmood jumped in the passenger seat. The car crashed into another vehicle when the alleged car thief ran off.
Kyle Jones, 23, of Cheadle Street, Openshaw is due in court later.
He will appear before Manchester Magistrates' Court charged with attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon.


Zambia's opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who has been held in prison since April on treason charges, has been released.

Mr Hichilema was due to stand trial, but instead walked free from Lusaka's high court after 100 days in custody.
Sources say the charges against Mr Hichilema and five aides were dropped after a deal was negotiated by the Commonwealth.
He narrowly lost the election to President Edgar Lungu last year.
Mr Hichilema, the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), alleges the vote was fixed, and does not recognise Mr Lungu as president.
Mr Lungu, meanwhile, faces accusations of growing authoritarianism.
Mr Hichilema was arrested in April, accused of endangering the president's life after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting Mr Lungu.
He and his aides "strongly" denied the charge, which carries a sentence of at least 15 years. Those found guilty can also be sentenced to death.
But all charges have now been dropped, apparently after a visit by Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, who was in Zambia last week and met Mr Lungu and Mr Hichilema.
She later hinted Mr Hichilema could be released in the public interest.
A source had earlier told the BBC he was "definitely being released today... unless there's a last minute development".


Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith says he will offer Jeremy Corbyn the role of party president if he wins.

Mr Smith praised his rival but said he was "not a leader", saying he had "sloganised" on austerity without setting out what he would do instead.
Mr Smith also described as "nonsense" criticism of him over the NHS, based on comments made while working for Pfizer.
Unnamed Corbyn allies in the Times seized upon the 2005 remarks that choice in the NHS was a "good thing".
The former shadow work and pensions secretary is now the only challenger to Mr Corbyn after the withdrawal of Angela Eagle on Tuesday.
In a series of interviews on Wednesday morning, Mr Smith said Labour would split if Mr Corbyn was re-elected, saying he had personally warned the leader the party was "teetering on the brink of extinction".
He said he was the candidate to "save the Labour Party" and make it a "credible government in waiting" as he faced a wide range of questions.
These included a focus on a 2005 press release by medical charity the King's Fund in which Mr Smith, then working for Pfizer, says that "we believe that choice is a good thing", adding that patients and healthcare professionals "should be at the heart of developing the agenda".
He was referring to a report about public attitudes to a range of ideas on healthcare provision, including care outside hospitals and further expansion of private providers. The study included focus groups exploring "the use of direct payments".
Mr Smith said the Times story, which included anonymous criticism of him as a "Blair lite" candidate, was a "a hatchet job" designed to damage his leadership campaign.
He said: "It is a gross exaggeration and extrapolation of one comment in a press release about a report commissioned by Pfizer before I worked there, at a period in which the last Labour government was using the word choice to describe getting private providers to do hip and knee and cataract operations."
He said he had "never advocated privatisation of the NHS".
Mr Smith was also asked about the time he called a police hotline - rather than 999 as previously reported - to get a comment for a story during his time working as a BBC researcher.
He acknowledged it had been a "stupid mistake".
He said he would be willing to press the nuclear button if elected as prime minister and said the government should consider nationalising the steel industry if necessary to save it.
He praised Mr Corbyn for helping Labour "rediscover its radical roots" and said he would offer his rival the role of party president if he won so he could "speak for the party" to the wider membership.
But he said Mr Corbyn was "not a leader", saying his rival had "sloganised" about being anti-austerity but had "never spelt out what he wants to spend".
Mr Smith will go up against Mr Corbyn in a head-to-head contest over the next two months, in which party members who joined Labour before 12 January, members of trade unions affiliated to Labour and registered supporters who sign up by paying Â£25 before the 17:00 deadline on Wednesday will be able to take part.
Meanwhile, in a statement on his Facebook page, former leader Ed Miliband urged Labour supporters to register to vote in the leadership election and back Mr Smith.
"Labour isn't fated to be a disunited party arguing with each other. Turning inwards not outwards," Mr Miliband says.
"We can be a strong party, putting forward progressive ideas, challenging the Tories, and being in a  position to win an election, reaching out to voters across the country, not talking to ourselves."
Mr Corbyn acknowledged the party was divided but said he was proud of his achievements over the past 10 months and believed he should be given the chance to build on them.
"My vision is built around an economy that delivers for everyone, in every part of the country," he said. "Let's have a comradely debate this summer - and emerge stronger and more united to protect our communities and defeat this Conservative government."


Glasgow City Council has been given more powers to tackle slum housing in the ethnically-diverse Govanhill area.

The Scottish government has allowed the council to designate four tenement blocks as an Enhanced Enforcement Area.
The council said this would give it more scope to tackle rogue landlords and improve standards in rented homes.
The authority has already announced plans to buy out hundreds of privately-owned flats in Govanhill in a bid to improve conditions.
The council said it was the first authority in the country to be granted the new powers under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014.
One of the main powers under the Enhanced Enforcement Area (EEA) will be a right of entry to rented properties where there have been complaints about the way they are being managed.
This will allow council officers to gauge the scale of any problem and initiate enforcement action against the landlord where necessary.
Bailie Liz Cameron, the council's executive member for economic development, said the EEA agreement with the Scottish government would help drive forward improvements in Govanhill.
"The new powers will help us identify the scale of the housing problems being faced by residents," she said.
"Having the right of entry to properties that are the subject of complaints means we can now resolve the issues by taking corrective action.
"We now have far more tools in the box to tackle those who fail to live up to their responsibilities and drag the area down."


The German department store chains Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof have stopped selling "creepy clown" masks in the run-up to Halloween.

German media say the move followed some creepy clown ambushes in Germany like those in the US and UK. In some cases the terrified victims were injured.
But the Deiters fancy dress store is still selling such masks.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned there would be "no tolerance" of creepy clown attacks.
"When people face threats of violence on a wide scale, it can be treated as an offence," he said, referring to the clown hysteria. "It no longer has anything to do with harmless Halloween traditions."
He said it was "no joke" when pranksters terrified people by brandishing chainsaws or knives.
The clown panic began in August, in the US state of South Carolina, with locals reporting people in clown masks trying to lure children into the woods.
Fuelled by social media, the craze spread to the UK and incidents were reported in some other countries too.


Maldivians will vote on 7 September in their first presidential election since former leader Mohamed Nasheed was forced to step down under controversial circumstances in what he describes as a coup.

Mr Nasheed was succeeded by then Vice-President Mohamed Waheed, who denies that a coup took place and says the transition was legal and necessary after the former leader resigned.
Maldives saw its first multi-party presidential elections in 2008, before which it was ruled for 30 years by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who is still said to have an influence on politics.
The first round of the election will be held on 7 September. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, then a second round, or run-off, will be held.
According to the Election Commission, 240,302 people (above 18 years of age) are registered to vote, including 31,000 newly registered voters and 65,745 who have registered to vote at a location other than their home island.
In the 2008 elections there were about 209,000 registered voters, with an 85% turnout in the first round, and 86% in the second.
Parliamentary polls are to be held in 2014.
There are four candidates in the bid for the presidency: former President Mohamed Nasheed, incumbent President Mohamed Waheed, business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim and former President Gayoom's half-brother Abdulla Yameen.
Mr Nasheed leads the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which is the single largest party with the highest number of registered members.
Mr Nasheed was the Maldives' first democratically elected president. His 2008 election win brought an end to Mr Gayoom's 30-year rule.
His running mate Mustafa Lutfi is a veteran politician and a former education minister. Mr Nasheed is seen as a strong contender.
Incumbent President Mohamed Waheed's Gaumee Itthihaad Party leads a coalition which includes the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) and its leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, who is also Waheed's running mate.
Former President Gayoom's half-brother Abdulla Yameen is standing for the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the second-largest party both inside and outside the parliament.
His running mate Mohamed Jameel Ahmed is a former home minister and a vocal opponent of Nasheed.
Gasim Ibrahim is the presidential candidate of the Jumhooree Party. The prominent businessman heads the Villa Group of companies, described as one of the largest private conglomerates in the Maldives.
He is also said to be popular for his philanthropic work. Mr Ibrahim's party is contesting the election in coalition with the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) which is known for its opposition to the former Nasheed administration. Mr Ibrahim has picked the DQP's Hassan Saeed as his running mate.
Candidates have been largely focusing on religion, nationalism, economy and education in their election campaigns.
Mr Nasheed's party is focusing on economic development through reforms and tourism.
The MDP manifesto pledges tax reform, development projects and the setting up of a national development bank.
Other parties are using religion as a political tool to woo voters.
President Waheed's campaign promises to promote the teaching of Islam and to encourage religious thought and teachings. Other key areas include social protection, education and the environment.
Mr Gasim's manifesto also proposes to strengthen Islam in the Maldives, including the establishment of an Islamic university and making the Koran a mandatory school subject. Mr Gasim has also pledged to pursue oil exploration, increase taxes on the wealthy and provide laptops for students.
Mr Gasim's coalition includes the religious conservative Adhaalath Party. The alliance means that a win for Mr Gasim could bring the country closer to the party's dream of turning the Maldives into an Islamic state.
Mr Yameen has taken a strong position on law and order, campaigning in favour of implementing the death penalty and calling for harsher prison sentences.
Independent poll monitors, including teams from Transparency Maldives and the Commonwealth Secretariat, will observe the elections.
India has also said that it will send a team of former chief election commissioners as observers.
The controversial power transfer in 2012 has led many to question the legitimacy of the polls.
Concerns also remain over whether the nascent democracy will be able to sustain itself, given a background where the judiciary and military are said to function under heavy political influence.
Transparency Maldives, a non-governmental organisation, has warned that the election will take place against a backdrop of "uncertainty of democratic transition, existing polarisations and other challenges that have been aggravated by the controversial transfer of power on 7 February 2012".
India and China have been trying to extend their influence in the region and the Maldives' strategic location drives their engagement with the tiny island nation.
India arguably enjoyed greater influence in the Maldives under Mr Nasheed. Bilateral ties suffered a setback after President Waheed's administration evicted Indian infrastructure giant GMR which had been developing Male's airport under an agreement signed with Mr Nasheed's government.
India is also mindful of China's expanding military and economic footprint in the Maldives.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


A new photograph of Prince George and Princess Charlotte has been released by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The picture shows the royals together in the garden at Kensington Palace.
It was taken in October by photographer Chris Jelf, who said: "I hope everyone enjoys this photo and I am honoured that the duke and duchess have decided to share it with the public."
The family released the picture as part of an announcement that Prince George will be starting at nursery in January.
Kensington Palace said that the royal couple were "very much looking forward to their first Christmas as a family of four" and "hugely appreciative of all the warm messages they have received about their family this year".


More than 8,000 people previously thought to have illegally overstayed their visa have, in fact, left the UK, Capita has revealed.

In September 2012 the UK Border Agency awarded the services company a contract worth up to Â£40m to find more than 150,000 missing people.
By the end of March, Capita told UKBA 8,328 of them had left the UK and it had managed to contact a further 5,250.
The government said it was "pleased" with progress made so far.
The existence of the "migration refusal pool" - those refused leave to stay longer in the UK but whose departure from the country had not been confirmed - was revealed in July last year.
The chief inspector of immigration, John Vine, said it stood at more than 150,000 at the time.
UKBA says Capita had sorted through the records of 79,336 people by the end of March this year.
The figures are disclosed in UKBA'a final annual report, which comes after it was split it into two bodies - UK Visas and Immigration and an Immigration Enforcement command.
Capita's payment-by-results deal is worth up to Â£40m, but the target it faces has not been revealed.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We are pleased with the progress that Capita is making on migration refusal pool cases. Their work ensures we can focus on tackling immigration abuse.
"Allowing people with no right to be in the country to stay here indefinitely undermines the immigration system. Any individuals with no right to be in the UK are expected to return home."


Luton midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu has signed a new contract until 2020, with the option of a further year.

The 23-year-old joined the Hatters from West Ham during their Conference-winning season in 2013-14 and follows Justin James in penning a new deal.
"I can't wait to get started again and hopefully we can get promotion this season," Mpanzu said.
"Last year was a bit of a disappointment at the end, but we know we can turn it around."
Luton lost in the League Two play-offs to Blackpool last season and start the new campaign at home against Yeovil Town.


Whoever Manchester United's manager is next season, their team needs major surgery if they want to challenge and get to where they want to be, or believe they should be.

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It has been clear for a while that this is not a great United side.
And, if Saturday's FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace was Louis van Gaal's last game in charge, then he has gone out with what will be remembered as a typical performance of his time as boss.
The same thing has happened many times before this season - they were the better team so they did deserve to beat Palace, but they did not play particularly well.
United had to win the FA Cup on Saturday to take any credibility away from this season.
But the fact they have got some silverware does not change the fact it has been a hugely disappointing campaign for them.
Lifting a trophy is obviously a good way to end a season but, like I said before the final started, finishing fifth made it a poor one, whether they won at Wembley or not.
It is clear they need to improve their team, but the problem now is how they do that.
Missing out on Champions League football means they will have a problem attracting the absolute top-class talent that they should be aiming for.
Whoever is in charge will have the same problem - United will miss out on those players, because those players want to be in the Champions League.
There are some reasons to be cheerful for United fans looking ahead to next season.
Their youngsters have been a big part of the success they have had, so it was appropriate that one of them - Jesse Lingard - scored the winner with such a sweet strike.
I thought Marcus Rashford was going to have that sort of impact on the game with the way he started it, and it was a shame he had to limp off in the second half.
Even so, he was impressive without getting a goal. We know about his pace and he used that again to cause Palace problems but his touch was also very good. It is clear his team-mates have got a lot of belief in him because they were fizzing balls up to him all the time.
Will he get into Roy Hodgson's final squad for Euro 2016? I don't know, but it is only 86 days since his first-team debut, on 25 January.
Whether he makes it to France this summer or not, when you consider where he was at the start of the year, and look at where he is now, then it has already been a remarkable few months for him and there is a lot more to come, too.
United's best player in the FA Cup final was one of the senior members of their squad, however.
They showed great character to go forward looking for a winner in extra time despite being down to 10 men, and Wayne Rooney epitomised that kind of determination.
He led by example the whole game and the way he drove into the Palace area to set up United's equaliser summed up who he is and what he is about.
Rooney gave it everything he had. It was no surprise to me that he did it all playing in midfield again, because he is clearly enjoying his new role. He has a lot more to offer as well.
Alan Shearer was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan
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Crime writer Ruth Rendell has died aged 85, her publisher says.

She wrote more than 60 novels in a career spanning 50 years, her best-known creation being Inspector Wexford, which was turned into a highly successful TV series.
Rendell, one of Britain's best-selling contemporary authors, also wrote under the pen-name Barbara Vine.
Born in Essex, she is credited with bringing a social and psychological dimension to crime fiction.
Publisher Penguin Random House said Rendell, who suffered a stroke in January, died in London on Saturday morning.
"We are devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors," the publisher said in a statement.
Penguin Random House chair, Baroness Gail Rebuck, said Rendell was admired throughout publishing for her "brilliant body of work".
"An insightful and elegant observer of society, many of her award-winning thrillers and psychological murder mysteries highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about."
Rendell's first Wexford book, From Doon with Death, was published in 1964, beginning a series of more than 20 starring Inspector Reginald Wexford, played in the TV series by George Baker.
Many of her works were translated into more than 20 languages and adapted for cinema and TV, attracting worldwide sales of 60 million.
She was the author of more than 20 standalone novels, whose protagonists were often on the margins of society, and was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for excellence in crime writing.
Her final novel, Dark Corners, is due to be published in October.
Rendell began her writing career as a reporter on an Essex newspaper.
However, she was forced to resign after filing a story about a local sports club dinner that she hadn't attended. Her report failed to mention that the after-dinner speaker had died half-way through the speech.
Rendell, whose writing brought her considerable wealth, was made a Labour life peer in 1997 and is reputed to have given generously to charity. She was a vocal campaigner against female genital mutilation.
Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted she would be missed greatly by the party.
She was born Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930 in South Woodford to a Swedish mother and British father.
Rendell married Don Rendell, a journalist, in 1953. They divorced 22 years later but remarried each other within two years. She is survived by their son.


Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has visited several memorials in Hawaii, ahead of a visit to Pearl Harbor, the US naval base attacked by the Japanese in 1941.

Mr Abe will be accompanied by US President Barack Obama, making the visit the first by the leaders of both countries since the attack.
Mr Abe will pray for the dead but will not issue an apology, his aides said.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour killed 2,300 US servicemen and propelled the US into World War Two.
After landing, the Japanese prime minister first headed to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and laid down a wreath.
He stood for a moment of silence at the cemetery near downtown Honolulu, a memorial to those who died.
All eight battleships at the base were damaged and four were sunk. But the key US aircraft carriers were at sea at the time.
On Tuesday, Mr Abe and Mr Obama will pray for the dead at the site of the attack before holding a summit meeting in Hawaii, their last before Mr Obama steps down in January.
Mr Abe's visit, three weeks after the 75th anniversary of the attack, follows a visit earlier this year to Hiroshima by Mr Obama.
He became the first serving US president to visit the Japanese city, where about 150,000 people are believed to have been killed in 1945 by a US atomic bomb.
353
Japanese aircraft attacked the US Naval Base in Hawaii at 07:55
2,403
US personnel were killed in the attack
19 US Navy ships, including 8 battleships, were damaged or destroyed
328 US aircraft were damaged or destroyed in the attack, which lasted for one hour and 15 minutes
The first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor was Shigeru Yoshida who in 1951 stopped over in Hawaii both on the way to and from the signing of the peace treaty with the US in San Francisco.
His visit on the way home included a meeting with the commander of the US Pacific fleet, Admiral Arthur Radford. The office where the two men met offered a direct view of the site of the Japanese attack.
"I could almost see the wreck of Arizona" out of the window, Mr Radford later wrote in his memoir, referring to a battleship that sank in the attack.
He recalled the meeting as having been initially rather awkward until his dog walked over to the Japanese visitor to be patted, breaking the ice between the two former enemies.


Independent researchers have challenged figures used by the Scottish government which estimate that 336,000 jobs are directly associated with EU exports.

The apolitical Scottish Parliament Research Centre (Spice) concluded the actual figure stood at 81,000 - a quarter of the number suggested.
Spice produced its research to inform the debate over the proposed in/out referendum on EU membership.
The Scottish government is against the UK exiting the EU.
The SNP-run administration has called for "a more democratic, effective and efficient" union.
The Conservative government at Westminster wants to cut red tape and block unwanted EU legislation.
Spice has reported that even if indirect jobs are included - such as supply-chain work and spending by employees - the total direct and indirect jobs associated with EU exports stands at 150,000.
Researchers confirmed that Scotland was a net contributor to the EU, providing £5,585m to the EU budget and getting £4,739m in receipts.
The Scottish government said that the 336,000 figure was taken from an an independent report published in March by the Centre for Economic and Business Research.
A spokesman added: "The Scottish government is clear that our EU membership brings many positive benefits to the people and the businesses of Scotland, supporting jobs, enabling our businesses to export to 500 million potential customers, and cooperate with 20 million potential business partners.
"That is why we will continue to outline at every opportunity why continuing to be part of the EU is firmly in Scotland's best interests."
Since 2002, EU exports as a share of all international exports have followed a downward trend, with exports to North America growing nearly five times as quickly as exports to the EU, but the EU is still by far Scotland and the UK's biggest market.
Nearly seven times as many EU students come to study in Scotland than Scottish students who go to study in other EU countries.
Some 13,550 EU students benefited from tuition fee-free Scottish education in 2013/14, costing the Scottish government £25.6m, but only about 2,000 Scottish students studied in other EU countries.
Scottish organisations have received about £80m in funding from Europe's Horizon 2020 research and development programme since January 2014.
Spice said it had not analysed the impact, positive or negative, of a UK decision to leave the EU because "it would be very difficult to quantify what might happen in the event of a withdrawal given the current lack of clarity about any alternative to EU membership".
It cited expert evidence warning of a "constitutional crisis" if the UK votes to leave.


The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is intensifying its campaign against the government's plan to legalise same-sex marriage.

In a letter being read in 2,500 parish churches, the Church's two most senior archbishops say the change would reduce the significance of marriage.
The letter says Roman Catholics have a duty to make sure it does not happen.
The government wants to introduce gay marriage by 2015, but says churches would not have to perform weddings.
Last week Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said the "grotesque" plans would "shame the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world" if implemented.
And on Friday, in a speech to visiting US bishops, Pope Benedict XVI warned of "powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage", in the wake of the US states of Washington and Maryland legalising same-sex marriage.
By Robert PigottBBC religious affairs correspondent
David Cameron has given his personal backing to plans to introduce gay marriage.
But there are signs that the barrage of protest might be having an effect on ministers.
The Catholic journal The Tablet reports that the question of whether gay marriage should be allowed at all will now be included in the government's public consultation on the issue expected shortly.
Previously the consultation was to have been more about how it would be introduced.
A change of heart - if there has been one - might be based on a look at opinion outside the churches too.
Civil partnerships were introduced in 2005 to give same-sex couples similar legal rights to married couples, but the law does not allow such unions to be referred to as marriages.
The letter by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, and Archbishop Peter Smith - the Archbishop of Southwark - tells Catholics that changing the nature of marriage would be a "profoundly radical step" that would reduce its effectiveness and significance.
In one passage the archbishops write: "There are many reasons why people get married. For most couples, there is an instinctive understanding that the stability of a marriage provides the best context for the flourishing of their relationship and for bringing up their children.
"Society recognises marriage as an important institution for these same reasons: to enhance stability in society and to respect and support parents in the crucial task of having children and bringing them up as well as possible."
They also add that changing the law would "gradually and inevitably transform society's understanding of the purpose of marriage.
"There would be no recognition of the complementarity of male and female or that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children."
The letter ends by telling Catholics they have a "duty to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations".
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says Archbishop Nichols - the Archbishop of Westminster - has a record of mobilising the faithful.
To many Christians, while a civil partnership confers all the legal rights of marriage, a church wedding is a mystical event, the making of promises before God in a sacred setting, endowing the relationship with a special "blessed" quality, our correspondent says.
He adds that the letter is couched in "measured language" but it is intended to rally Catholics against the changes.
The leader of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, has said the law should not be used as a tool to bring about such social changes such as gay marriage, and may turn out to be ahead of majority opinion.
And the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, opposes gay marriage but supports civil partnerships, which he says have addressed the injustices faced by same-sex couples.
"There's a difference - and people don't these days want to talk about difference - there's a difference between a civil partnership and marriage, and that difference doesn't mean one is better than another, but they're different."
Ben Summerskill, from the lesbian and gay charity Stonewall, said most people who heard the letter would ignore its contents.
"It's a shame Catholic church leaders are so deeply opposed to a 21st-century balance of rights that they're not reading out letters about serious issues such as the Aids crisis in Africa or the 2.5 million children who live in poverty in this country.
"We're sure most churchgoers will be as opposed to their leaders on this issue as they are on birth control," he said.
Mark Dowd, from the group Quest, which represents lesbian and gay Catholics, said the archbishops were out of touch as other countries had begun to make changes.
"Probably the Archbishop resembles King Canute standing on the shores with the waves coming in. It's really a question of the tide of history turning and there's very little that can be done about it."
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat spring conference, the party's leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg gave his support to gay marriage, saying the "freedom to love who you choose is a fundamental right in a liberal society".
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone will launch a consultation later this month on how to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples. She has said she wants to challenge the view that the government does not have the right to change marriage traditions.
The Catholic journal The Tablet reports that the question of whether gay marriage should be allowed at all will be included in the consultation.
The Scottish government has held a consultation process north of the border and received more than 50,000 responses.


A mural to celebrate Wales qualifying for their first major football tournament since 1958 is nearing completion in Cardiff.

BBC Wales Today commissioned graffiti artist Bradley Woods to create an image of Gareth Bale on the side of the Hearing & Mobility shop in Whitchurch to mark Euro 2016 qualification.
In Brazil, graffiti is a popular way of honouring football players.
Passers-by were impressed with the artwork.
Any Vaughan-Davies from Llandaff, Cardiff, said: "It's awesome. Very striking. I saw it earlier on today and I think all the detail he's added in is fantastic."
Elaine Bissenden from Rhiwbina, Cardiff, said:  "It's fantastic. I'm amazed. You can tell who it is."
Chris Davey from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, added: "Now that you tell me I can see it's Gareth Bale. It's really good. Not garish with bright colours like some graffiti."
Cardiff-born Bale became the world's most expensive footballer when he transferred from Tottenham to Real Madrid for Â£85.3m in September 2013.
On Tuesday, BBC Wales Today has a special programme from 18:30 BST ahead of the Wales v Andorra game at Cardiff City Stadium.


Collin Quaner marked his Huddersfield debut by scoring against League One Rochdale to help the Terriers reach the FA Cup fifth round.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The German forward, signed from Union Berlin, opened the scoring for the Championship side from close range.
Izzy Brown, on loan from Chelsea, doubled the lead from the penalty spot before Michael Hefele added the third.
Rochdale's misery was complete when Hefele added a fourth, his side's third goal in 18 second-half minutes.
Reaction from all of Saturday's FA Cup fourth round ties
The home side started strongly but ultimately paid the price for failing to take their chances.
Peter Vincenti headed narrowly over the bar before a poor back-pass by Mark Hudson let in Ian Henderson, but he fired wide.
Huddersfield's win was their biggest FA Cup away success since January 1960, when they won a third round replay 5-1 against West Ham.
Rochdale boss Keith Hill: "If we'd scored it would have been a different game.
"The only goal of theirs I could really applaud was the fourth because the other three were down to mistakes."
Huddersfield manager David Wagner: "It was not the type of football match and style that I like but I loved the result."
On Collin Quaner scoring in his first game: "It was a fantastic performance for his first game in difficult circumstances.
"He scored what we in Germany call the 'tin-opener' and he had some good moments. He gave a great assist for the fourth goal so you cannot really ask for more."
Match ends, Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 4.
Second Half ends, Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 4.
Attempt missed. Philip Billing (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Foul by Callum Camps (Rochdale).
Tareiq Holmes-Dennis (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 4. Michael Hefele (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Collin Quaner.
Attempt blocked. Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Callum Camps (Rochdale) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt blocked. Jack Redshaw (Rochdale) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Jack Redshaw (Rochdale) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Philip Billing (Huddersfield Town).
Foul by Peter Vincenti (Rochdale).
Mark Hudson (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!  Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 3. Michael Hefele (Huddersfield Town) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Aaron Mooy.
Foul by Callum Camps (Rochdale).
Collin Quaner (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Aaron Mooy replaces Dean Whitehead.
Jack Redshaw (Rochdale) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Collin Quaner (Huddersfield Town).
Substitution, Rochdale. Jack Redshaw replaces Jamie Allen.
Substitution, Rochdale. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing replaces Reuben Noble-Lazarus.
Goal!  Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 2. Isaiah Brown (Huddersfield Town) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Harrison McGahey (Rochdale) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Penalty conceded by Harrison McGahey (Rochdale) after a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty Huddersfield Town. Martin Cranie draws a foul in the penalty area.
Corner,  Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Jimmy McNulty.
Keith Keane (Rochdale) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Michael Hefele (Huddersfield Town).
Foul by Peter Vincenti (Rochdale).
Dean Whitehead (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Joseph Rafferty (Rochdale).
Isaiah Brown (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Isaiah Brown (Huddersfield Town) is shown the yellow card.
Joseph Rafferty (Rochdale) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Isaiah Brown (Huddersfield Town).
Callum Camps (Rochdale) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jonathan Hogg (Huddersfield Town).
Corner,  Rochdale. Conceded by Martin Cranie.
Hand ball by Peter Vincenti (Rochdale).
Second Half begins Rochdale 0, Huddersfield Town 1.


A child's background can be a bigger deciding factor than their academic ability in how likely they are to get into top universities, says research.

Around 2,000 of the "brightest poorest" children miss out on places at "top universities", a study suggests.
Research into 520,984 children found even the highest performers lose out to less able, better-off pupils if they come from a more deprived background.
The study showed "how unfair" the former system was, the government said.
Academics at the Institute for Fiscal Studies looked at 8,000 children who had been high-achieving at 11 in primary school.
By the age of 16, these children were behind average achievers from wealthy families, said the research, published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.
Nine hundred of the 8,000 high-achieving children went on to an elite university, according to the work, which looked at a cohort of children born between 1991 and 1992.
A child's background was measured by the school type, free school meal status during secondary school and an index of socioeconomic status measuring the deprivation of their neighbourhood.
Three times the number of children who are least deprived reach level 3 in reading and maths at Key Stage 1 than the most deprived children.
The commission, chaired by former Labour MP Alan Milburn, said the research showed how important secondary school was if the government wants to boost the number of children from poorer backgrounds at elite universities.
It called for universities and policymakers to give students from poorer backgrounds advice to help them get into the top institutions.
Mr Milburn said Britain was "wasting young talent on an industrial scale".
He said the young high-achievers were getting lost in a "secondary school maze" that must be improved before social mobility could improve.
"For secondary schools the research is a wake-up call for them to do more to realise the potential of each of these students," he added.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "This report, analysing the progress of pupils who largely left school before 2010, underlines just how unfair the education system was before this government's programme of reforms.
"Improving the life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and closing the gap between the rich and the poor is our overriding ambition."
She said there were now 250,000 fewer pupils in failing secondary schools than there were in 2010 and that more young people from disadvantaged areas in England were applying to university "than ever before".


At least 30 prisoners and 10 guards have been killed in a prison break in Iraq, as more than 50 other inmates escaped, officials and police say.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group says it was behind the attack on the jail in Khalis, north-east of Baghdad.
But officials blame the incident on a prison riot in which inmates tried to seize weapons and managed to break out.
Iraq has seen a number of prison breaks. Many have been caused by militants seeking to free comrades.
Nine of the inmates who got away in the latest incident were being held on terrorism charges, including IS members. The rest, officials said, were common criminals.
Police officials said the trouble began when prisoners started fighting, and guards who intervened were attacked and had their weapons seized. The ministry said there had been no external assault.
A security official told the BBC that some of the prisoners had planned the escape.
But the militant group has said it was behind the attack and managed to free "more than 30" fighters from the prison in a statement posted online.
"Fifteen IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were detonated against army and police convoys and vehicles around the prison," the statement added.
Some local sources also reported Islamic State militants using several vehicles to try to storm the prison and release its members inside.
The town of Khalis is located in Diyala province about 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad.
A curfew is now in place in the city and in two of its suburbs as security services comb the area in search of the suspects, the mayor of Khalis told the BBC.
Grisly pictures have been circulating on social media, with some commentators suggesting a massacre took place at the prison.
The Iraqi government is battling IS militants who have captured large parts of the country.
This is the third such jailbreak in Diyala since last June, when IS seized large territories in north and western Iraq as the regular army troops partly collapse.
Over 500 inmates, including leading Islamists, escaped from the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad in 2013 after gunmen stormed the facility.
Separately on Saturday, a car bomb killed at least seven civilians and injured 14 others in Baghdad, police said. Shia pilgrims embarking on an annual march to a shrine in the capital were believed to have been the target.


UK shares joined in a European rally in equities following the first round of France's presidential vote that also sparked a jump in the euro.

The FTSE 100 index clawed back some of the losses triggered by last week's announcement of a general election, closing up 2% at 7,264.68.
France's Cac 40 index soared 4% to 5,268.85 and Germany's Dax climbed 3.4% to 12,454.98.
Bank shares across European markets were among the best performers.
The FTSE 250 Index, seen as a better barometer of the health of UK business than the more international FTSE 100,  rose 1.3% to reach an all-time closing high of 19,602.83.
The rise in shares follows news that centrist Emmanuel Macron topped the voting in France on Sunday, going through to the final round with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Markets now expect Mr Macron to beat Ms Le Pen in the second round of the vote, installing a French president seen by investors as pro-Europe and pro-business.
Barclays finished 5.4% up, Standard Chartered advanced 4.75%, and Royal Bank of Scotland rose 3.96%.
Energy stocks were among a small number of fallers, with investors reacting to news that the Tory manifesto may include a policy to cap energy bills.
Centrica and SSE were among only three FTSE 100 stocks to fall, ending down 3.5% and 1.9% respectively.
The other faller was Randgold Resources, 1.4% off as the price of gold, seen as a safe-haven asset, fell more than 1%.
On the currency markets, the euro charged ahead.
Sterling was down 1.3% against the euro at 1.17, while the pound dropped 0.2% versus the US dollar at 1.27.
On the oil markets, Brent crude fell 0.8% to $51.55 a barrel amid concerns over an increase in US drilling activity.


Greece's leaders have received a guarded welcome to their reported proposals for a debt deal, ahead of crunch talks with EU creditors.

After a meeting in Rome with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, Italian PM Matteo Renzi said his country would "give Greece a hand" without always agreeing with it.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has reportedly suggested a new deal for exchanging debt with bailout creditors.
The radical left Greek government was elected on a pledge to end austerity.
The Syriza party, led by Mr Tsipras, won last Sunday's vote by promising to write off half the country's massive debt, sparking alarm on the markets and among eurozone officials.
The Greek government also said it would refuse new loans from the EU and the IMF, prompting questions about how it would finance itself.
This week, however, Greek leaders on a tour of European capitals sought to allay some of the concerns.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, Mr Varoufakis has retreated from the idea of writing off debt, instead suggesting that it could be exchanged for bonds that would be repaid only if the Greek economy grew.
The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said the bloc will "have to adapt a certain number of policies" to accommodate Greece.
Mr Tsipras meets Mr Juncker in Brussels on Tuesday. He will also travel to France to meet President Francois Hollande, whose government has also suggested a softer line on Greece.
At the meeting with Mr Renzi in Rome on Tuesday, Mr Tsipras said Europe had to "put social cohesion and growth before the policies of poverty and insecurity".
Mr Renzi echoed him, saying that the world was "calling on Europe to invest in growth, not austerity".
However, he did not comment on the details of Greece's proposals.
Despite the conciliatory remarks, many hurdles remain.
"Varoufakis is intelligent, but he is underestimating the problems," a eurozone official quoted by the Reuters news agency said.
Greece still has a debt of €315bn - about 175% of GDP - despite some creditors writing down debts in a renegotiation in 2012.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out debt cancellation, saying creditors had already made concessions.
This week, Mr Varoufakis said that he wanted a new plan for fiscal stimulus in place by the end of May, with repayment of existing debt tied to Greece's ability to restore growth.
Mr Varoufakis added that he would negotiate separately with the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank but not with officials representing all three - the so-called "troika", which he described as a "committee of technocrats".
The troika agreed a €240bn (£179bn; $270bn) bailout with the previous Greek government.
Austerity measures imposed in an effort to manage the debt prompted outrage in Greece and led voters to reject the previous government.
Instead, Greeks voted Syriza into power after an election campaign dominated by the party's message of change.
In interviews in the German media published on Saturday, Mrs Merkel said she still wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone but did not "envisage fresh debt cancellation".
Greece's current programme of loans ends on 28 February. A final bailout tranche of €7.2bn was still to be negotiated but the new government has already begun to roll back austerity measures.


Sam Allardyce has made versatile Leicester player Jeffrey Schlupp his first signing as Crystal Palace boss.

The 24-year-old moves south for a reported £12m, and has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
The Ghana international made 24 Premier League appearances in 2015-16 as the Foxes won their first title.
But he has started only one league game this season and has not featured at all since the 5-0 Champions League defeat at Porto on 7 December.
Schlupp, who can play in defence, midfield or attack, was left out of Ghana's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
He began his career at Leicester - making 150 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals - and had a loan spell at Brentford during 2010-11.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis had been interested in Schlupp, who joins a Palace side 17th in the Premier League.
The Eagles, one point above the relegation zone, visit West Ham on Saturday, a game Schlupp is available for.
Allardyce said: "He will bring strength and experience to the defence and will be a major asset for the club."
Sunderland manager David Moyes had earlier confirmed the club had rejected a bid from Palace for Netherlands defender Patrick van Aanholt.
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A man has been charged over an explosion at a house in Newport.

Gwent Police said a 50-year-old had been charged with arson with intent to endanger life following the blast on 2 April.
The explosion caused extensive damage to the house and adjoining buildings.
The man is due to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court on 28 November.


It's official: Slash and Axl Rose are going to perform together as Guns N' Roses for the first time since 1993.

The rock band will headline the Coachella music festival in California in April - although it is still unclear whether original members Steven Adler, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, will also be part of the line-up. [Update: The band have now confirmed that McKagan will take part in the reunion]
Once the most feared band in rock, they were raw, ugly and chaotic. But they also had a sensitive side, as heard on their breakthrough hit Sweet Child O' Mine, written for Rose's girlfriend and later wife Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly.
Rose has remained the only constant in the band's chequered history, which was marked by drug abuse, in-fighting and accusations of homophobia and misogyny.
William Bruce Rose was born on February 6, 1962, in Lafayette, Indiana. Sexually and physically abused at a young age, he was an outcast at school but found solace singing in the church choir.
He moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17, changing his name to Axl Rose (an anagram of oral sex) and forming a band with schoolfriend Izzy Stradlin.
The band had several name changes - Rose, Hollywood Rose and LA Guns - before finalising its line-up with Slash (top-hatted guitarist Saul Hudson, originally from Stoke-on-Trent), Duff McKagan (bass), and Steven Adler (drums).
They made their live debut at the Troubador, in a show billed as: "A Rock 'n' Roll Bash Where Everyone's Smashed" and honed a sound that was equal parts metal and punk.
Following a disastrous 1985 tour (they ended up hitch-hiking to Seattle after their van broke down) they rallied on the independently-released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, which led to them being signed to Geffen Records.
Guns N' Roses debut album, Appetite For Destruction, killed off 1980s hair-metal in one swift flourish - even though the band themselves, sporting bandanas and cowboy boots, hardly broke the mould.
It remains the biggest-selling debut album of all time, shifting more than 30 million copies (including 18 million in the US), although it got off to a slow start, making its chart debut at number 182 in 1987.
The band's hectic touring schedule delayed a follow-up, so their earlier EP was given a re-release, with the addition of four acoustic tracks, under the title GN'R Lies.
Rose came under fire for the closing track, One in a Million, which used both racial and homophobic slurs. The album's sleeve-notes anticipated the controversy, with Rose writing the song was "very simple and extremely generic" - but the band were publicly criticised by Tipper Gore and talk show host Arsenio Hall.
Their behaviour continued to make headlines - with Stradlin accused of urinating in public on an aeroplane, and Slash swearing on live television during the American Music Awards.
Meanwhile, the band missed several deadlines for their next album, eventually delivering the mammoth double-disc set Use Your Illusion I & II in late 1991.
It topped the charts, but the band seemed to have succumbed to the excesses they set out to destroy, with bloated songs full of showboating guitar solos - not to mention the nine-minute video for November Rain. Asked to explain the plot last year, Slash said: "You know what?! To tell you the truth, I have no idea."
For years, Guns N' Roses made a virtue of their hedonism - but the cracks began to show in a televised concert which proved to be drummer Steven Adler's final appearance with the band.
The group turned up to the Farm Aid benefit show in April 1990 after a six-month break from the stage, at a time when Adler's addiction to heroin and cocaine was spiralling out of control.
He had been having trouble keeping time during recording sessions for Use Your Illusion, and the problems persisted on stage. As they began their second song, Civil War, Duff McKagan had to clap his hands to show the drummer the tempo.
Adler claimed sabotage - saying he had never rehearsed the song with the band.
"I believe their strategy was to make my playing sound like this," he argued in his autobiography. "By branding me as an ill-equipped, crappy drummer, they'd be armed with a sound reason for kicking me out."
Slash's own account was more callous. "We weren't really concerned for Steven's health as much as we were pissed off that his addiction was handicapping his performance and therefore the rest of us."
Whatever the reason, the disastrous show resulted in Adler being evicted from the band. Conversely, Stradlin quit in 1991 after kicking drugs, finding the rest of the band's behaviour intolerable.
"Once I quit drugs, I couldn't help looking around and asking myself, 'Is this all there is?'" he told Rolling Stone.
He was replaced by Kills For Thrills guitarist Gilby Clarke, and the band staggered on through the Use Your Illusion Tour - with Rose's increasingly erratic behaviour and disregard for stage times leading to riots and violence at several venues.
When the tour finally ground to a halt in 1993, the band issued a lukewarm covers album, The Spaghetti Incident?, which seemed hackneyed and dated compared to Nirvana's Nevermind, which had rewritten the rock rulebook as effectively as Appetite For Destruction had, six years earlier.
With Slash and Rose disagreeing over the direction for the band's fourth album, the group fell apart in 1997, with McKagan the last to jump ship.
"I went out for dinner with Axl and I told him, 'Enough is enough. This band is a dictatorship and I don't see myself playing in those conditions. Find someone else,'" he told Kerrang in 1999.
Rose recruited dozens of musicians to perpetuate the Guns N' Roses brand - including Dave Navarro, Tommy Stinson, ex-Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck and his childhood friend Paul Huge.
But the only new material to surface was an industrial metal track called Oh My God, which appeared on the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film End of Days in 1999.
Meanwhile, Slash and Stradlin achieved moderate success with their solo albums, and Adler kicked his drug habit and wrote a surprisingly frank memoir. McKagan, meanwhile, returned to his pre-Guns N' Roses group 10 Minute Warning before enrolling in Seattle University and becoming a financial expert.
In 2002, Slash and McKagan reunited with drummer Matt Sorum (Adler's replacement) and Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland for the "supergroup" Velvet Revolver, who released two top 10 albums and won a Grammy Award.
After years of being branded a recluse, Rose resurfaced in 2000 with a new line-up, including a guitarist who wore a giant KFC bucket on his head and went by the moniker 'Buckethead'.
They toured around the world, while Rose tinkered with a new album, tentatively titled Chinese Democracy.
In 2005, The New York Times published an article headlined: "The Most Expensive Album Never Made".  It detailed Geffen Records' farcical attempts to get Rose to deliver Chinese Democracy - which, by that point, had racked up costs of $13 million (Â£8.9 million).
The money didn't all go towards guitars and recording equipment, noted journalist Jeff Leeds. On one occasion, "Buckethead announced he would be more comfortable working inside a chicken coop, so one was built for him in the studio, from wood planks and chicken wire."
The effort obviously paid off - because three short years later, Chinese Democracy was released.
The list of personnel reflected the record's prolonged gestation. The credit list for one song - the Bond theme-esque There Was A Time - ran to 33 lines on the CD booklet. A total of six people played guitar on the track. Two of them got solos.
Nonetheless, Rolling Stone called it "a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record", while The Telegraph called it "a remarkable and often exhilarating album."
Hopes of a reformation have always seemed dim. "Personally I consider [Slash] a cancer and better removed," said Rose in 2009.
Rose's former bandmates didn't hold him in higher regard. "He's insane, that's it," said Adler. "I swear to God, he's a nutball."
But rumours of a rapprochement surfaced last year when Slash told US TV show This Morning that the "tension ... has dissipated".
"We don't have all those issues anymore," he added. "There's not a lot of controversy. It's something that's more perpetuated by the media than anything."
Over Christmas, Guns N' Roses teased a reunion via a cryptic update to their official website; while a trailer showing concert footage (although not the band itself) was played before select screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The reunion was finally confirmed by the US music festival Coachella, which announced Guns N' Roses as headliners this coming April.
Fans are excited but wary that the capricious Rose could torpedo the comeback... He has already pulled out of a TV appearance to promote the band's resurrection.


Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed new defence chiefs after sacking the heads of the army, navy and air force.

The sackings were expected as the president has repeatedly criticised the military's inability to defeat Islamist group Boko Haram.
The Islamists have recently launched a series of deadly guerrilla attacks, killing more than 250 people.
Boko Haram is thought to be responsible for more than 10,000 deaths since 2009.
Both the new head of the army, Maj Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai, and the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno, are from Borno State which is at the heart of the conflict.
BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says the hope is they have a good grasp of what is needed to end the violence.
The new military chiefs will be expected to work closely with neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger as they join forces to tackle Boko Haram.
The group has also stepped up attacks on these countries.
At least 12 civilians were killed in Cameroon in a suspected Boko Haram suicide attack on Sunday evening, a military source told the BBC.
Two soldiers also died, along with two bombers who blew themselves up in Fotokol, near the border with Nigeria.
Chad will be the headquarters of an expanded Nigeria-led regional force of around 7,500 troops.
Its formation has gained momentum since President Buhari took office in May.
Analysis: Will Ross; BBC News; Lagos
Some are asking why it took so long to make the changes.
So it was certainly not a surprise that President Muhammadu Buhari replaced all the military top brass.
Making progress in the fight against Boko Haram is his priority and he clearly wasn't happy with the status quo within the military.
Over the past three weeks Boko Haram has launched almost daily bomb attacks in cities in the north as well as blasts in Chad and Niger.
On Saturday morning, 15 people died in the main market in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, when a man dressed in a burka blew himself up.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.
Our correspondent, Will Ross, says just hours before his sacking, army chief Lt Gen Kenneth Minima said the upsurge in violence was the result of military success against the jihadists.
Lt Gen Minima suggested Boko Haram no longer had the capacity to fight the army and so had resorted to attacking soft targets with bomb blasts.
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
Who are Boko Haram?


British number two Heather Watson lost the last six games as her six-match winning run came to an end against Monica Niculescu in Indian Wells.

Watson, who won her third WTA title in Monterrey last week, won seven games in a row to lead 2-0 in the third set before Niculescu prevailed 6-4 2-6 6-2.
British men's number two Aljaz Bedene earlier lost 7-5 2-6 6-3 to Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in the opening round.
Andy Murray and Johanna Konta will begin their campaigns on Saturday.
Both Britain's top players are seeded and have byes in round one at the BNP Paribas Open, with second seed Murray taking on Spain's Marcel Granollers and 25th seed Konta facing American Madison Brengle.
Murray, playing with fellow Scot Colin Fleming, lost in the doubles on Friday, beaten 7-5 6-7 10-8 by John Isner and Milos Raonic.
Venus Williams returned to Indian Wells after a 15-year boycott but was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara.
The American, 35, had been booed and whistled, along with her father Richard and sister Serena, in 2001 after Venus withdrew from her semi-final against Serena.
Richard Williams had alleged that racist comments were directed at them and the sisters refused to play at Indian Wells until Serena ended her boycott last year.
Elder sister Venus followed suit on Friday and received a hearty reception from the main stadium crowd of about 7,000 spectators.
"It was enough of a fairytale to come here and play," she said after the defeat. "A win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back, play next year."
Serena Williams, the world number one, later beat Laura Siegemund of Germany 6-2 6-1, and there were also wins for third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, fifth seed Simona Halep and eighth seed Petra Kvitova.


A group hoping to buy the former home of the Bishop of Worcester has been awarded £413,700 of lottery money.

The Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust has agreed to pay Church Commissioners £2.45m for the freehold of the castle and grounds.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) turned down a bid for £478,000 from the trust in 2011 over concerns about the original asking price.
The trust wants to keep the castle, museum and library open to the public.
It houses the county museum and the Hurd Library, a collection of 5,000 volumes dating from 1476.
Robert Greenwood, from the trust, said the award was "a very significant first step to securing the future of this magnificent heritage site".
The trust plans to raise the money to buy the castle using contributions from private donors, and has raised £50,000 from donations made by members of the public.
Iain Rutherford, from Museums Worcestershire, said: "We look forward to working in partnership with the trust to deliver one of the best tourist attractions in the Midlands, indeed in England, and to re-establishing Hartlebury as an important centre of learning and culture."
The castle was the residence of the Bishop of Worcester until 2007.


Ireland women beat South Africa by seven wickets to seal a consolation win in the fourth and final one-day match between the sides at The Hills.

Former skipper Isobel Joyce hit 12 boundaries in an unbeaten 62 as Ireland romped to victory with 14 overs left.
The tourists had set a target of 143 from their 50 overs, but Ireland replied with 146-3.
It was a first-ever success for the Irish over South Africa, who had already won the series 3-0.
Joyce shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 78 with teenager Gaby Lewis (27 not out), after the experienced Clare Shillington (28) had given the Irish a positive start in their run chase.
Earlier, three wickets apiece for leg-spinner Ciara Metcalfe (3-27) and vice-captain Kim Garth (3-27) saw South Africa dismissed for 143 in blustery conditions.
Andrie Steyn top scored for the Proteas with 43, while Chloe Tryon (30) and Laura Wolvaardt (20) were also among the runs.
The Irish attack never relinquished their grip on proceedings, with Lucy O'Reilly, Louise McCarthy and Gaby Lewis also among the wickets.


Relatives of policemen caught up in Brazil's soaring levels of violence have protested in Rio de Janeiro hours after the death of an officer during an operation at a nearby shantytown.

They said officers lacked resources in their fight against the city's criminal organisations.
Hundreds gathered along the seafront in Copacabana to demand more support from the authorities and the population.
Ninety-one policemen have been killed in Rio state this year.
That is more than the total of deaths registered in the whole of 2016.
"I am desperate because I know my husband could be the next one," said Rogeria Quaresma at the march in Rio.
"We see families being destroyed every day. And I don't accept becoming the next widow," she told O Globo newspaper.
In the latest incident, Sgt Hudson Araujo was killed at the Vidigal favela in the early hours of Sunday.
The Brazilian government announced last week it would send an extra 1,000 federal agents to support local police.
Violence has been on the rise in Brazil - and particularly in Rio de Janeiro - since the end of the Olympics and Paralympics nearly a year ago.
Brazil is now going through the worst recession in its history.
The finances of many states, including Rio, have collapsed and there's no prospect of a solution for Brazil's serious political crisis.
The families of police officers say their loved ones are paying a heavy price for trying to fight crime without the resources and equipment required.
Police officers have been fighting for changes in the penal code so that the killings of police officers are treated as heinous crimes.
They complain that the hard work of honest policemen is not given the same media coverage as alleged human rights abuses in security operations.
In a report published in February, Amnesty International said it was concerned about the growing number of deaths in police operations in Brazil.
More than 800 people were killed by the police in the state of Rio alone in 2016.


Captain Sam Warburton admits the challenge of playing the world champion All Blacks in New Zealand inspired his return from injury.

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More than 300 emails from Hillary Clinton's private server are to be reviewed to see if they contain classified information.

The US state department identified the emails as it carries out its check on whether they can be released publicly.
Mrs Clinton's use of private email while secretary of state for four years has sparked a barrage of criticism.
The Democratic 2016 frontrunner says her private email contained nothing that was classified at the time.
Critics say that her set-up was unsecure, against government rules and designed to shield her communications from oversight.
Last December, she handed over about 30,000 emails she sent and received while in office.
A team of officials has been checking the emails since a federal judge ordered they be released to the public on a rolling basis over the next five months.
In court papers filed with a US District court judge in Washington on Monday, the State Department updated its progress.
One of its officials told the court that 305 of her emails are being recommended for review by intelligence agencies.
State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters later that day the review of more emails was "healthy".
"It doesn't mean that all 300 are going to end up at some level of (classification upgrade). I suspect some will and I suspect some won't," he said.
The FBI is investigating whether classified information was improperly sent via the server and stored there.
Under US federal law, officials' correspondence is considered to be US government property.
Mrs Clinton says the primary reason she set up her own email was for "convenience" but sceptics say the real reason she did it was because it gave her total control over her correspondence.
According to Mrs Clinton, she sent or received 62,320 emails during her time as secretary of state - she says half of them were official and have been turned over to the State Department.
Probably not. Mrs Clinton's email system existed in a grey area of the law - and one that has been changed several times since she left office.
It's a big deal because Mrs Clinton is asking the US public to trust that she is complying with both the "letter and the spirit of the rules". Critics on the left and the right are concerned she made her communications on sensitive national security issues more susceptible to hackers and foreign intelligence services.
Clinton's 'emailgate' diced and sliced


Teaching has resumed at the Kenyan university where 148 students died in a gun attack last April but only a few students have turned up for its reopening.

Security has been tightened at Garissa University College nine months after the attack by militant Islamist group al-Shabab.
Staff reported to work last week to get the campus in north-east Kenya ready.
Last year's attack was the deadliest so far by the Somali-based group in Kenya.
The campus has been closed since the attack and at the time some 650 students were offered places at a sister campus in Eldoret, western Kenya, to continue their studies.
They were not expected to return to Garissa but the authorities are hoping to attract a new cohort of students by the start of the academic year in September.
Shamsi Abdi Barre:
"I have the memories of lost friends, the environment gives me flashbacks... but life must go on."
Shamsi Abdi Barre, third-year student, Garissa University College
Only about a dozen students arrived and attended a business management class, including Shamsi Abdi Barre.
She told the BBC that though she is happy the university has reopened, she has "a lot of memories of lost friends [and] the environment gives me a lot of flashbacks".
The BBC's Angela Ngendo in Garissa says that those who turned up were third-year students who worked in the local area.
They told her they wanted to complete their classes so they could graduate.
Student Lovender Moseti has decided not to go back.
She told the AP news agency that she did not want to "remember everything that happened" and said she "would not be comfortable" returning despite the strengthened security.
Al-Shabab has launched several attacks on Kenya, saying they are in revenge for Kenya's decision to send troops to Somalia, where they are helping government forces against the al-Qaeda affiliated group.


A truck driver who crashed into the back of a limousine van carrying US actor and comedian Tracy Morgan, injuring him and killing another man, has pleaded guilty.

Kevin Roper, 37, was driving a Walmart truck in 2014 when the crash happened, as the 30 Rock star and others were returning from a show.
Morgan was seriously injured and fellow comedian James McNair died.
Roper can avoid prison and a criminal record as part of his plea deal.
To do so, he needs to satisfy conditions including carrying out 300 hours of community service, according to his lawyer David Glassman.
"He is grateful for the opportunity to accept responsibility and move forward in doing what is required to obtain a dismissal of the charges pending against him," Glassman told AP.
Roper entered the plea to second-degree vehicular homicide and four counts of third-degree aggravated assault at a New Jersey court.
The crash happened on the New Jersey Turnpike when Saturday Night Live star Morgan and his friends were returning from a performance given by Morgan in Delaware.
Morgan was left in a coma for two weeks and suffered a broken leg, broken ribs and head injuries. Three of the other passengers were also injured and McNair died.
The Walmart supermarket chain previously reached an agreement with Morgan and the children of McNair, 62, who grew up with Morgan in New York.
The National Transportation Safety Board carried out an investigation into the incident and concluded Roper had not slept for 28 hours before the crash, a finding disputed by his lawyer.
The safety board report said Roper had not slowed down sufficiently before the crash, despite warning signs of road works taking place on the turnpike.
It said the truck was doing 65mph in a 45mph zone before the crash happened.
But the board also said Morgan and his friend should have been wearing seat belts and their limo should have had adjustable headrests, which could have minimised their injuries.
Once out of hospital, Morgan said he had not found out about McNair's death until he came out of his coma. He described the fellow comedian as a "loving" and "warm" man.
Morgan made his first public appearance after the accident in June 2015 and made a surprise appearance at the Emmys three months later.
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England flanker Matt Kvesic has signed a new contract at Gloucester.

The Germany-born 22-year-old made 63 appearances for Worcester Warriors, before agreeing a move to Kingsholm in February 2013.
Kvesic featured twice in England's Test series against Argentina last year and was also part of their tour of New Zealand this summer.
He has now played 17 games for the Cherry and Whites, including five so far this season.
"It's nice to get it sorted this early in the season," Kvesic told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"It allows me to focus on the rest of the year and it's really exciting times for me.
"I came here hoping I could learn and I feel like I have in the last year.
"This year has been about taking more on myself and going out every week to give the best performances I can."


Derby defender Jason Shackell will miss the rest of the Championship season after having surgery on a back injury.

Shackell has not featured since the Rams' FA Cup defeat by Premier League side Leicester in February.
The 33-year-old, who joined Derby from Burnley in July 2015, made 10 appearances for the club this season.
"It was something that needed to be done to clear up what has been a long-term issue," manager Gary Rowett told the club website.
"The plan is for him to come back for pre-season training ready to go.
"Speaking to him about it, he felt as if he was playing at around 80 per cent in games and couldn't sprint as well as he would like to."


A school suspended pupils 440 times in one academic year, despite the fact that only 353 students were enrolled at the school during that period.

The number of suspensions at Movilla High School, in Newtownards, County Down, was revealed in the latest report from school inspectors.
Its problems were first highlighted two years ago, when inspectors said its quality of education was "inadequate".
The latest inspection has found some improvements, but not in exam results.
In fact, the percentage of pupils who attained five or more GCSEs (or equivalent qualifications) at grade C or above has dropped from 23.6% at the time of the original inspection to 18.4%.
The number of pupils enrolled at the school has also dropped to 215 and Movilla has been without a permanent head teacher since July, when Caroline Karayiannis left her post.
In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph newspaper, the school's interim principal Ian Bell said: "The board of governors and management of Movilla High School acknowledge the findings of the ETI (Education and Training Inspectorate) follow-up report, and are encouraged by their endorsement of the positive changes made in the school from September 2015."
When contacted by the BBC, Mr Bell would not comment on the number of suspensions or add to his earlier statement.
The 440 suspensions at Movilla accounted for 12% of the total number of suspensions across all schools in Northern Ireland in the 2014/15 academic year, which stood at 3,647.
The statistics include repeat offenders as pupils can be suspended multiple times in a year.
Movilla High School was placed in "formal intervention" in January 2014 -  a process in which schools with unsatisfactory educational records are offered extra support to raise their standards.
Since then it has been the subject of a series of follow-up visits from ETI inspectors, the most recent in November 2015.
After their latest visit, inspectors said Movilla High School has been "adversely affected by a lack of strategic leadership, strained relationships at various levels and several long-term illnesses in key curriculum areas".
It said the school's problems were "compounded by a deteriorating system for the pastoral care and behaviour management of the pupils, as evidenced by the 440 recorded suspension incidents during 2014-15".
Although half of the lessons observed during the follow-up inspection were "good or better", the inspectors said they witnessed some classes being "disrupted by low-level misbehaviour by a small number of pupils, which needs to be managed to better effect".
However, the report also said that in the first three months of this academic year, the school's "senior leadership team and the staff have worked collegially to put in place measures to promote positive behaviour by the pupils".
It also said that relationships "between staff at all levels have improved".


Sales of Irn Bru in the UK Parliament have increased 60% in the last year, according to new figures.

The spike comes after the SNP upped its number of seats from six to 56 in the 2015 general election.
Numbers obtained by the Press Association show 8,708 cans or bottles of the fizzy drink were sold in the financial year 2015-2016.
It marks an increase from the 5,452 units sold in Westminster bars, cafes and vending machines the previous year.
MPs and other parliamentary staff are expected to drink another 8,493 cans or bottles by the end of the financial year in April 2017.
The SNP's gains in the 2015 general election saw them become the third biggest party in Westminster.
Patrick Grady, SNP MP for Glasgow North, said the fizzy drink gave politicians "sustenance" through the long days in the Commons, which often sits into the evening.
He said: "Barrs, which produces Irn-Bru, is an independently owned company which plays an important role in the economy of central Scotland and the country as a whole.
"Famously Scotland is the only country where Coca-Cola is not the biggest selling soft drink.
"But it looks like we're making progress in the House of Commons and perhaps the taste will catch on among MPs and staff from south of the border."


Ronnie O'Sullivan is set for a busy season after agreeing to play in the new Home Nations series, starting with October's English Open in Manchester.

O'Sullivan, who last played in the World Championship in April, did not play until December last year.
He has also entered the Irish Open in November. The Scottish Open takes place in December and the series concludes with the Welsh Open in February 2017.
Each event has a £366,000 prize fund, with a £1m bonus for winning all four.
Five-time world champion O'Sullivan, currently world ranked 10th, has also signed up for the Shanghai Masters, the European Championship and the International Championship.
The 40-year-old, who featured in six tournaments last term, said he was struggling to deal with the expectation of being snooker's "figurehead" after failing to reach the World Championships quarter-finals in April.
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