Afghans Go to the Polls After Two Decades of War

[lucky wilbury]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBV73QM20E.html

Afghans Go to the Polls After Two Decades of War
The Associated Press
Published: Oct 8, 2004

Afghans vote Saturday in elections that are seen as crucial for its future stability.

Q: Why are these elections important?

A: The first Western-style election in Afghanistan is also its first national vote since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. After more than two decades of war, there are hopes that the polls will usher in an era of democracy and shore up a drive to make sure the country doesn't revert to a haven for extremists. A successful election would strengthen the next government, better enabling it to challenge warlords who still govern much of the countryside.

Q: Who is expected to win?

A: Interim leader Hamid Karzai is the front-runner, but with 15 other candidates running against him, it isn't clear whether he will get the 50 percent plus one needed to avoid a run-off. Karzai's main rival is Yunus Qanooni, a former education minister.

Q: How long will it take to count the votes and when will a winner be declared?

A: No results are expected until late Sunday or Monday, and it could take more than two weeks to tally votes from the most remote districts, where ballot papers are being transported by donkey. A run-off could leave the country in political limbo until late November.

Q: How has violence marred the polls and how much of a threat do Taliban and al-Qaida fighters pose?

A: More than 60 people have been killed since the official start of the election campaign Sept. 7. Security has been a top concern for candidates. There have been three attacks on Karzai and his political allies. However, fears that Taliban or al-Qaida fighters would launch a massive assault have not materialized.

AP-ES-10-08-04 1343EDT

[monkeythe]

And the first bomb goes off. What's the over/under on the gambling websites?

[monkeythe]

What happens if the people write in Osama and he wins? Does he get diplomatic immunity like Dr. Doom has?

[lucky wilbury]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB5WU2A30E.html

Polls Open in Afghanistan's Presidential Election Under Threat of Violence

By Paul Haven Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 9, 2004


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's historic presidential election began Saturday, with people across this ethnically diverse land casting the first ballots in an improbable experiment with democracy, and under a Taliban threat of ruinous violence.

After 25 years of near-constant war, voters descended on bombed-out schools, blue-domed mosques and bullet-pocked hospitals to choose their leader for the first time as more than 100,000 soldiers, police, U.S. troops and other security forces were deployed to thwart attacks.

Interim leader Hamid Karzai is widely expected to win against 15 rivals, among them warlords, royalists and even an Islamic poet. But the size of the field could deny Karzai the outright majority needed to avert a run-off.

A 19-year-old Afghan refugee in Pakistan became the election's first voter early Saturday, casting a ballot in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

"I cannot explain my feelings, just how happy I am," said Moqadasa Sidiqi, a science student whose family escaped Kabul in 1992 during civil war. "I would never have thought I would be able to vote in this election."

Some 750,000 Afghan refugees registered to vote in Pakistan, and another 400,000-600,000 were eligible in Iran. Initial results were not expected until late Sunday or early Monday. Anything approaching a full count could take as much as two weeks.

While the Taliban threat of an overwhelming attack had not materialized by early Saturday, there were plenty of signs the rebel group was trying. On Friday, a bomb-sniffing dog discovered a fuel-truck rigged with anti-tank mines and laden with 10,000 gallons of gasoline on its way to the southern city of Kandahar.

Election officials arrested three Pakistanis and said they planned to detonate the truck in the center of the city on polling day.

"This would have caused hundreds of deaths ... and the electoral process would have been derailed in the area," said Col. Ishaq Paiman, the Defense Ministry deputy spokesman.

Alarm was raised briefly Saturday when a Western official reported a bombing at a polling station in the north, but Afghan officials and international peacekeepers said no such blast had occurred. They said a truck fire had broken out, but caused no injuries.

A flurry of rockets lanled in several cities around the country on Thursday and Friday, including one that hit a parking lot near the U.S. Embassy and another that injured a young girl and an old man in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Still, none threatened to derail the vote and most Afghans brushed them off.

"In 25 years, a lot of rockets have landed. If another one lands because of the election, it's no problem," said Noor Uddin, a 49-year-old Kabul businessman, on Friday.

In Kandahar, police struggled to keep back a crowd of hundreds of men trying to vote at a polling site on the grounds of the governor's residence. Election workers reprimanded several Karzai campaign officials for coming to lobby voters at site, a violation of electoral law.

Voters who came out early across the country said they hoped the election would put an end to this hard-luck nation's long suffering.

"We are very happy," said Abdur Rahim, a 75-year-old voting in the northern city of Sheberghan, a stronghold of Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, one of Karzai's challengers. "We want the election to end our wars."

Aziz Ullah, a 19-year-old Kabul shopkeeper, said the election offered a stark contrast in a nation that has endured many forms of imposed rule in the past 30 years - among them monarchy, Soviet occupation, warlord fiefdoms and the repressive Taliban theocracy ousted by the U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"I came here to vote so we can have democracy and stability and xeace in Afghanistan," he said. "There used to only be a transfer of power by force or killing. Today, the Afghan people are choosing their future leaders themselves."

Women voted at separate booths from the men, in keeping with this nation's conservative Islamic leaning.

"I walked from my house with my husband to vote for Karzai, who is a very good person," said Mahtab, a 45-year-old Kabul housewife. Like many Afghans she uses only one name.

A day ahead of the vote, Islamic clerics urged worshippers to embrace democracy. At the Blue Mosque, the capital's largest house of prayer, Mullah Obeid-ul Rahman told some 400 faithful that Islam and democracy should go hand and hand.

Rahman did not say which presidential hopeful he would pick, but made clear that the only female candidate, former U.N. worker Massooda Jalal, was not his choice.

"In Islam, it is forbidden for a woman to become president," he told the crowd.

At least one listener disagreed.

"I am voting for Massooda Jalal," said Fazel Rahman, 35. "I have come here to pray. I don't care what the mullah says about politics."

Expectations for the election have been set intentionally low.

Afghans have no experience with democracy, and most say they will vote based on the recommendations of tribal elders. The country of 25 million people is largely illiterate, and voters will have to rely on candidates' photographs and electoral symbols to figure out which box to check.

The European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have sent observer missions, but neither will pass judgment on the fairness of the process, saying it would not be appropriate to try to hold Afghanistan to international standards. A small U.S. observer team also was monitoring the vote.

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