Azerbaijanis go to the polls in a nationwide referendum to scrap a two-term presidential limit that could extend Ilham Aliyev's grip on power.

5,367 polling stations across the country of 8.7 million people opened at 8:00 am (0400 GMT) and were to close at 7:00 pm (1500 GMT).

"Voting is very active and what we are hearing gives us the impression that the majority of voters will support the changes to the constitution," said Mubariz Gurbanly, the deputy executive secretary of Aliyev's Yeni Azerbaijan party.

However, opposition groups in the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic called for a boycott, arguing that the move will further retard democratic reforms in the country.

The Aliyev family has ruled Azerbaijan since the late Heydar Aliyev, father of the current leader.

Ilham, 47, won a second five-year term by a landslide last October, having taken over from his father Heydar in 2003.

The proposed amendments would also postpone presidential and parliamentary elections in the event of war.

Azerbaijan remains locked in a simmering conflict with neighboring Armenia over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh, which Aliyev has vowed to retake.

Dozens of other constitutional changes are included in the referendum.

JR/MMN