Afganistan's historical leadup days and election day October 9, 2004 in pictures

U.S. Army soldiers leave their base in Zormat, some 120 km south of Kabul, to patrol the area October 4, 2004. Whatever the violence wreaked by the Taliban and its allies over the next few days, Afghanistan's first direct vote for a leader on Saturday is now unstoppable, the U.S. envoy to Kabul said. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Ahmad Zia Masood, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's running mate for Saturday's historic presidential election, escaped unhurt October 6, 2004 when a mine exploded under his convoy in the remote northeast of the country. Masood, brother of the late Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Masood, is seen campaigning in Kabul October 2. (Caren Firouz/Reuters)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai waves to supporters during a campaign rally at the Kabul stadium October 6, 2004. With just three days to go before historic elections, President Hamid Karzai urged Afghans to follow the example of their warrior ancestors and become heroes -- but of the ballot box and not the battlefield. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

An Afghan man drinks in a car near the Kabul stadium October 6, 2004. With just three days to go before historic elections, President Hamid Karzai urged Afghans to follow the example of their warrior ancestors and become heroes -- but of the ballot box and not the battlefield. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

Afghan soldiers stand on the track of the Kabul stadium and guard the grand stand as they wait for the arrival of Afghan President Hamid Karzai for a campaign rally Wednesday Oct. 6, 2004. Attackers set off a bomb as a convoy carrying Afghan President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running-mate and other dignitaries passed along a road in northeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 killing one man and injuring five others, officials said. Afghans will go to the polls on Oct. 9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghan women listen to a speech by President Hamid Karzai during a campaign rally at the Kabul stadium October 6, 2004. With just three days to go before historic elections, President Hamid Karzai urged Afghans to follow the example of their warrior ancestors and become heroes -- but of the ballot box and not the battlefield. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks to his supporters during a campaign stop at the Kabul stadium Wednesday Oct. 6, 2004. Afghans will go to the polls on Oct. 9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sips tea as he listens to elders who came from around Afghanistan to announce their support for him in Kabul Wednesday Oct. 6, 2004. Afghans will go to the polls on Oct. 9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/Mosadeq Sadeq)

A donkey crosses the river as transports ballot boxes between the Koh-i-Sarki-Khan's mountains toward Som Darreh's village in Faizabad, 320 km (200 miles) northeast of Kabul, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004. Donkeys are the only means of transport to distribute the electoral kits in the inaccessible areas of the Faizabad district due to the craggy geography. Afghans will to the polls on Oct.9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A group of Afghan women wearing burqas head towards the center of Faizabad, 320 km (200 miles) northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Locals cross the river over a bridgethat operates on ropes in Faizabad, 320 km (200 miles) northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct 5, 2004. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A sniper watches a crowd of supporters for Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a campaign stop in Ghazni, Afghanistan, 70 miles (110 kms) outside Kabul Tuesday Oct. 5, 2004. Afghans will go to the polls on Oct. 9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghan women hold pictures of presidential candidate Mohammad Mohaqiq during a campaign by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Ghazni, some 120 km (75 miles) south of Kabul, October 5, 2004. Karzai made a speech telling a crowd of some 10,000 people that historic elections this weekend will deliver them from a quarter-century of war. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

An Afghan radio technician looks out form his Radio Afghanistan broadcast van during a campaign speach by Afghan presidential candidate Abdul Rashid Dostum in Kabul stadium Wednesday Oct. 6, 2004. Afghans will go to the polls on Oct. 9 in the country's first ever direct elections. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghan presidential candidate Abdul Rashid Dostum waves during a campaign rally in Kabul stadium October 6, 2004. Afghanistan's historic election in three days time will spell an end to the gun in a nation which has ended a quarter-century of conflict, the top U.N. official in the country said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Afghan presidential candidate Yunus Qanooni addresses an election rally at Kabul. Qanooni is considered to be Hamid Karzai's only serious challenger among a total of 18 presidential candidates.(AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

Afghan's election staff receive voting instructions during a training session by a UN civic education officer, right, in Herat in Afghanistan Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004. Afghanista's first direct presidential elections will be held on October 9. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Afghan women receive voting instructions during a training session sponsored by Afghanistan's joint electoral management body in Faizabad, 320 km (200 miles) northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004. Seventeen women learned about the voting process from U.N. education officers. Elections will be held on October 9. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

An analyst looks at data on computer screens at the election security operation center on the outskirts of Kabul October 6, 2004. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's running mate for Saturday's historic presidential election escaped unhurt Wednesday when a mine exploded under his convoy in the remote northeast of the country. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

Afghan presidential candidate Yunus Qanuni is escorted by security in Kabul's stadium during a rally October 5, 2004. Qanuni, one of 17 candidates challenging Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the presidency, held a rally for some 4,000 people in the capital's stadium. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

A security guard escorts Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his second successful campaign stop outside the safety of the capital in Ghazni, some 120 km (75 miles) south of Kabul, October 5, 2004. Karzai made a speech telling a crowd of 10,000 people that historic elections this weekend will deliver them from a quarter-century of war. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Afghan president Hamid Karzai gestures as he answers the journalists during the press conference in Kabul on Saturday, Oct.9, 2004. Afghanistan's first direct presidential election was thrust into turmoil hours after it started Saturday when all 15 candidates challenging interim leader Hamid Karzai alleged fraud over the ink meant to ensure people voted only once and vowed to boycott the results. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

An Afghan polling official smiles as he sits next to full ballot box after the closing down of the polls concluding the first presidential elections in the country in the southern Afghani city of Kandahar Saturday Oct. 9, 2004. As people lined up to vote across this long-suffering country, where 100,000 security forces including U.S. troops were deployed to thwart attacks from Taliban insurgents, ordinary Afghans expressed optimism that they were casting ballots for a new era _ despite a controversy over allegations of electoral fraud. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)

President Bush talks about the elections in Afghanistan as he speaks to supporters in St. Louis, the morning after his second debate with his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004. He also affirmed the reelection of Iraq War ally, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Afghan men stand in line as they prepare to cast their vote in a polling station in the southern Afghani city of Kandahar Saturday Oct. 9, 2004. As people lined up to vote across this long-suffering country, where 100,000 security forces including U.S. troops were deployed to thwart attacks from Taliban insurgents, ordinary Afghans expressed optimism that they were casting ballots for a new era _ despite a controversy over allegations of electoral fraud.. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)

Afghan refugees living in Pakistan stand in a line to vote in Afghanistan's presidential elections in the western border city of Chaman October 9, 2004. A woman of 19 who fled Afghanistan's long civil war made history on Saturday by casting the first vote in her country's first direct presidential election, before rivals of the incumbent threw the poll in to confusion by declaring a boycott. REUTERS/Saeed Ali Achakzai

A combination image shows three different methods of inking Afghan voters fingers to show they have voted during the presidential election in Kabul October 9, 2004. The image at left shows an Afghan woman receiving her identification card back after dipping her finger in ink. The image at center shows an election official coloring the thumb of an Afghan woman with a marker after dipping it in the tub of ink. The image at right shows an election official coloring the thumb of an Afghan woman with a marker. Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election was thrown into confusion on Saturday after all of President Hamid Karzai's rivals said they were boycotting the poll because of irregularities. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

Afghan presidential candidate Massouda Jalal speaks with journalists at her campaign headquarters in Kabul October 9, 2004. Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s first-ever presidential election was thrown into confusion on Saturday after all of President Hamid Karzai's rivals said they were boycotting the poll because of irregularities. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

All of President Hamid Karzai's rivals in Afghanistan's historic elections on October 9, 2004 have decided to boycott the poll because of irregularities. Fifteen of 18 candidates on the ballot agreed to join the boycott, contender Abdul Satar Serat said. That left only President Hamid Karzai in the running as the final two on the ballot withdrew in his favour earlier this week. Combination file photo shows Afghanistan's 18 presidential shows from (top row L-R) Abdul Latif Pidram, Hamid Karzai, Homayoon Shah Asifi, Mir Mohammad Mahfoz Nidaie, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Sayed Ishaq Gilani (middle row L-R) Abdul Satar Serat, Abdul Hafiz Mansoor, Ghulam Farooq Nijrabi, Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, Abdul Hasib Aryan, Wakil Mangul (bottom row L-R) Abdul Hadi Khalilzai, Mohammad Ibrahim Rashid, Mohammad Younus Qanoni, Masooda Jalal, Sayed Abdul Hadi Dabir and Abdul Rashid Dostum. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/Files

Ghousuddin, Afghan refugee from Lagman province of Afghanistan (news - web sites) holds his registration card after casting his vote in the Afghanistan's presidential election at Kacha Garhi refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/B. K. Bangash)

Vote Count to Start in Disputed Afghan Poll

By Raju Gopalakrishnan

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan officials were due to begin counting votes on Monday after a controversial presidential election that was in danger of being scrapped but is more likely to be a turning point in the history of the war-torn nation.

Ballot boxes from Saturday's election were being opened at counting centers across the country, a crucial stage in the impoverished Islamic country's road to democracy.

Millions of Afghans participated enthusiastically in the country's first direct presidential poll, ignoring threats by militant Taliban insurgents, but it ended in controversy after most of the candidates announced a boycott because a system to prevent vote fraud had collapsed.

President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday that some of the candidates who had called for a boycott had changed their mind and were willing to accept its legitimacy.

"Some of the esteemed candidates have rejected the boycotting of the election," Karzai told a news conference. "And we are hopeful that other candidates do not ignore the national jubilation and let the votes be counted.

"The Afghan people voted yesterday in millions and that is what I see," he added. "I am blinded to everything else. It was a celebration, I'm thrilled."

The problem was the indelible ink put on the finger of everyone who voted to stop them voting again. Some election workers used the wrong pen to mark voters, and the ordinary marker ink was quickly washed off.

And with questions over the late issue of 10.5 million voter cards in a population of about 28 million with only about half of them adults, there were accusations of illegal multiple voting.

The election authority -- the Joint Election Management Body (JEMB) -- has said it will investigate the irregularities but counting would take place as scheduled. After the complaints, the JEMB had considered postponing the vote, but decided against it.

Officials said completing the count could take up to three weeks and it could take almost as much time to complete the investigation.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION?

One election official said it was possible that the investigation would be handed over to an independent commission, but no decision had been taken yet.

Any controversy could be worrying for a nation made up of a patchwork of ethnic groups and often warring tribes, and held together for the last three years by Karzai's interim government. But at least two candidates -- the lone woman in the fray, Massouda Jalal, and Hazara chieftain Mohammad Mohaqiq -- appeared to back away from the deadlock on Sunday and said they would accept the result of an investigation into the irregularities.

"I think at least among the main candidates, an agreement will be possible," said the European Union's envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, who held talks with candidates including Mohaqiq.

The international community is keen that the election be widely accepted as legitimate. Western donors have pumped in aid into Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban and the United Nations has been closely involved in the election, which many believe will endorse the U.S.-backed interim government.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visits Afghanistan on Monday and said in Pakistan on the eve of his visit: "The peaceful way elections took place and the high participation makes me optimistic even though there have been some problems.

"I am convinced that if there have been misdoings or some mistakes with the election the United Nations and the international observers will find that out."

Saturday's vote came three years after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime for harboring Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11 attacks.

President Bush, facing his own election battle next month, has claimed the Afghan vote as a foreign policy success and is hoping it can be mirrored in Iraq.

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