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Afghanistan holds first parliamentary vote in 30 years
KABUL, (AFP) - Polls opened across Afghanistan for the country's first
parliamentary elections in more than 30 years, after a campaign of violence by
militants from the ousted Taliban who vowed to disrupt the vote. On the ballot papers voters will find a cross section of Afghanistan's strife-torn society, including warlords, drug kingpins, mullahs and -- marking a step forward for the conservative country -- women. President Hamid Karzai, who won Afghanistan's first presidential election in October 2004, urged his countrymen and women to exercise their new democratic rights. "Your participation is an important, positive step towards a bright future," he said on national television late Saturday. "Attend the elections with full confidence and vote for your favourite candidate with total freedom." "The polling stations opened this morning at 6:00 am (0130 GMT)," Bronwyn Curran, spokeswoman for the United Nations-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body, told AFP. The 26,000 polling stations, scattered from the parched southern deserts to the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains, are due to close at 4:00 pm (1030 GMT). Officials say opening hours may be extended to allow for queues and delays as
Afghans struggle with the newspaper-sized ballots required to fit in the 5,800
candidates taking part. Full results are not expected until late October.
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