[BurbankKarl]

Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Mohammed Mohaqeq, unseen, eat dinner at mosque during a campaign in Herat in Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004. Mohaqeq is one of 17 candidates challenging Hamid Karzai for the presidency which will hold its first direct presidential vote on Oct. 9, a crucial step in the war-torn nation's troubled transition to democracy after the fall of the Taliban nearly three years ago.

[BurbankKarl]

Afghan women receive voting instructions during a training session sponsored by Afghanistan (news - web sites)'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.