30 September 2004	Thursday	14 Shaban 1425

QUETTA, Sept 29: An election campaigner for Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday urged refugees in Pakistan to cast their votes in favour of peace, stability and progress in their home-land.

"Hamid Karzai is a symbol of unity, peace, stability and (the) well-being of the Afghan nation," Abdul Jabbar Naeemi told some 2,000 Afghan refugees at meetings held in two camps.

"I urge you to vote for President Karzai to put the country on the path of progress after two decades of bloodshed," he said. Mr Naeemi has addressed similar meetings elsewhere in Pakistan where between 600,000 to 800,000 refugees are expected to register at stations set up by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The three-day refugee registration in Pakistan will start on Friday. The IOM is setting up around 1,670 polling stations in Pakistan where most refugee camps are based. United Nations officials, who are helping organize the polls, have said that 10 per cent of the votes may come from refugees in Iran and Pakistan.

There are up to 500,000 Afghan refugees living in six camps in Balochistan. "You should take part in the election process and particularly send your women to cast their votes in favour of Karzai who is playing a greater role for the unity of Afghanistan," Mr Naeemi told refugees in Surkhab camp, 70km from Quetta.

A gathering of Afghan refugees in nearby Saranan camp passed several resolutions calling upon people to discard those who were responsible for spreading bloodshed in their country. -AFP