01 March 2004	Monday	09 Muharram 1425

WASHINGTON, Feb 29: The United States may postpone parliamentary and presidential elections in Afghanistan scheduled for June this year, diplomatic sources told Dawn in Washington.

The campaign for postponing the elections, initiated by the Afghan government and its embassy in Washington, is also supported by influential US lawmakers, the sources said.

Both Afghan and US officials, briefing the journalists, pointed out that it was almost impossible for the US, the UN and NATO officials responsible for holding the two elections to complete preparatory work by June.

Instead, they propose holding the presidential vote in September this year and the parliamentary elections in the spring of 2005. Officials in Washington say that US secretary of defence discussed the possibility of postponing the elections when he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Friday.

Those opposed to holding the elections in June say that so far only eight per cent of about 11 million eligible voters in Afghanistan have registered to vote.

Gen James Jones, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, has demanded more troops to help provide security for the registration of voters but US officials are not sure if they can provide additional troops for this purpose at this stage when most of their soldiers are heavily engaged in Iraq. Other NATO countries and US allies also appear reluctant to send more troops.

Observers also have objected to a US proposal of recruiting tribal leaders for holding the elections because they say that giving weapons and money to these leaders for security arrangements during the elections can jeopardize the Afghan government's plan for disarming private militias.

They also point out to an increase in attacks by Taliban activists saying that the Taliban would certainly take advantage of the volatile situation during the elections and increase their attacks.