Jubilant supporters of interim President Hamid Karzai after voting in Kabul.
Afghan refugee Moqadasa Sidiqi, 19, creates history, being the first person to vote in Afghanistan's first presidential election. She voted in Pakistan.
Posted on 10/10/2004 12:09:29 PM PDT by freedom44
Several candidates in Afghanistan's presidential election appear set to drop calls for a boycott of the result.
Confusion clouded the historic vote on Saturday when 15 of the 18 candidates alleged flaws in the voting procedure would produce a fraudulent result.
But many of their representatives have now told the BBC they will instead accept the findings of an official inquiry into alleged irregularities.
The UN has hailed the "massive" turnout in the elections.
More than 10 million people were registered to vote, many of them refugees living in Pakistan and Iran.
International bodies have endorsed the elections, with the largest monitor group there describing them as "fairly democratic".
Ink stains
Earlier on Sunday, Mohammed Mohaqeq, one of the rivals to the favourite, President Hamid Karzai, became the first to announce he was withdrawing his backing for the boycott.
Mr Mohaqeq said he wanted a UN commission to investigate the election and he would accept its ruling on its legitimacy.
Other candidates are also withdrawing calls for a boycott in favour of a more conciliatory approach, according to the BBC's Andrew North in Kabul.
Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election was marred by reports that an ink used to stain voters' fingers to prevent them from casting their ballot twice could be washed away.
This prompted several candidates for the presidency to call for the election result to be annulled.
President Karzai criticised the move as an affront to the hopes of the millions of Afghans who braved bad weather and the threat of terrorism to turn out to vote.
He told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme on Sunday that a commission would inquire into the alleged voting malpractices.
Attack fears
Counting centres have begun tallying the ballots but their task is unlikely to be completed soon - votes cast in far-flung reaches of the mountainous country will take days to arrive, some of them by donkey.
The Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), the single largest observer body, ruled the polls were "fairly democratic".
Another international body, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said there were some irregularities that should be investigated.
However, OSCE Ambassador Robert Barry said "the candidates' demand to nullify the election is unjustified and would not do service to the people of Afghanistan who came out yesterday, at great personal risk, to vote".
The UN, which helped organise the poll, has praised the "massive" turnout in the election.
Correspondents say ordinary Afghans have regarded the elections with gravity and enthusiasm.
Fears that militants linked to the former Taleban regime would carry out their threat to sabotage the vote appear to have been largely unfounded.
Gore's legacy - he's screwed the planet forever...
Gee it seems several of the Afgani groups must have taken their political training with the American Democrat party.
For a Historic Event it's not getting much play from the Old Media!
For a Historic Event it's not getting much play from the Old Media!
Just one more victory in the War on Terrorism.
Outstanding news!!!
Are you surprised?
A sign is displayed at a movie theater about the Afghan elections next to a Afghan restaurant in the Little Kabul area of Fremont, Calif. Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004. Residents of Little Kabul, the nation's largest concentration of Afghan emigres, are watching closely as their homeland prepares to hold its first direct presidential election. As millions of voters in Afghanistan (news - web sites) get ready to cast ballots Saturday, some residents of Fremont's Little Kabul see the landmark vote as a crucial step for a budding democracy. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Great picture, thank you for posting it.
Thanks to our troops in Afghanistan and their CIC for making freedom possible there.
As an American Im very proud of that.
President Bush is right, this will be very contagious in the region. I feel great about what's going on in these peoples lives, they now have a chance.
Regrettably and thanks to the lib's, our Country's election process has lost credibility and will be inundated with far more problems than this New Nation of free souls has experienced. So, for me, it's a happy-sad time. I am happy for them, but sad about what we are about to be made to experience.
If I outlive kerry, I will find a way to pi$s on his grave.
Great! thanks for sharing that.
May they never take their freedom for granted like so many here.
Good news bump!
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