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Afghans vote for president amid fears of attacks

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-20 09:33

Taliban fighters pose with weapons while detaining a man for campaigning for presidential candidate Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan on August 19, 2009. [Agencies]

KABUL: Threats of Taliban violence and rumors of fraud cast a shadow Thursday over Afghanistan's election, in which millions of voters will choose a new president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government.

International officials predict an imperfect outcome for a vote that they hope Afghans will accept as credible -- a key component of President Barack Obama's war strategy.

On the eve of the balloting, the US military announced the deaths of six more Americans -- putting August on track to become the deadliest month for American forces since the war began in 2001. Rising death tolls underscore the urgency of establishing a strong, effective government to stem the growing Taliban insurgency.

President Hamid Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban was ousted eight years ago, is favored to finish first among 36 official candidates, although a late surge by former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah could force a runoff if no one wins more than 50 percent.

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Preliminary results were expected to be announced Saturday Kabul time.

Karzai, a favorite of the Bush administration, won in 2004 with 55.4 percent of the vote, riding into office on a wave of public optimism after decades of war and ruinous Taliban rule. As the US shifted resources to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan fell into steep decline, marked by record opium poppy harvests, deepening government corruption and skyrocketing violence.

Faced with growing public discontent, Karzai has sought to ensure his re-election by striking alliances with regional power brokers, naming as a running-mate a Tajik strongman whom he once fired as defense minister and welcoming home Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, allegedly responsible in the deaths of up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners early in the Afghan war.

Those figures are believed capable of delivering millions of votes among their followers, but their presence in the Karzai inner circle has raised fears in Western capitals that the president will be unable to fulfill promises to fight corruption in a second term.

Voter turnout -- especially in the insurgency-plagued Pashtun south -- is likely to be crucial not only to Karzai's chances but also to public acceptance of the results. Karzai is widely expected to run strong among his fellow Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group which also forms the overwhelming majority of the Taliban.

Abdullah, son of a Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, is expected to win much of his votes in the Tajik north, where security is better and turnout likely to be bigger. Abdullah, an ophthalmologist who has railed against government corruption, was a member of the US-backed alliance that overthrew the Taliban in 2001 and would be expected to maintain close ties with the West.

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About Election and Candidates

Related Links

• Office of President of Afghanistan
• Official Website of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
• Independent Election Commission
• Electoral Complaints Commission
• UNDP's ELECT Project