11 October 2004	Monday	25 Shaban 1425

KABUL, Oct 10: Afghanistan's first presidential vote, which ended in turmoil after most candidates announced a boycott, was mostly fair, independent observers said on Sunday.

President Hamid Karzai rejected calls from his rivals for fresh elections. Attacks on the vote did not materialize, but up to 40 people were killed in clashes, including 24 in a US bombing raid. But midway through the day, all 15 rivals of US-backed Karzai said they were boycotting the poll because a system to prevent voting fraud had failed. Many demanded fresh voting.

With questions over the late and rapid registration of 10.5 million voter cards in a population of about 28 million, there were allegations of illegal multiple voting.

The largest group of independent election observers, The Free and Fair Election Foundations of Afghanistan, made up of 13 Afghan non-governmental organisations, said the vote was fair.

"The large participation of Afghans is an encouraging sign of people's participation in the democratic process," it said. "While the reasons for the incorrectly applied indelible ink remain to be seen, a fairly democratic environment has generally been observed in the overall majority of polling centres."

COUNTING: Earlier, candidate Abdul Satar Serat condemned the vote as illegal and against democracy. "The result that comes out of this election will be an illegal result," he said.

Mr Karzai said his rivals should respect the will of the people. "I would advise my fellow countrymen, the 15 other candidates, that we must all respect the fact that millions of Afghans came out on foot, in rain and snow and dust and waited for hours to vote," he said.

"That's a tremendous thing for us in this country for the first time, and we must all respect that and wait for the commission to count the votes and make a judgment on the irregularities and then we proceed further from that point.

"Just because 15 people have said 'No', we can't deny the votes of millions." The Joint Election Management Body of UN and Afghan experts said the allegations of irregularities were serious and would be investigated. But it said counting, likely to begin on Monday, would go ahead. Some officials said it could take up to three weeks to settle questions on irregularities. In Kabul's main Pul-i-Khisti bazaar, back to its usual chaos after fears of campaign violence and the vote, opinions were divided.

The election came three years after US-led forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime for harbouring Osama bin Laden, allegedly architect of the Sept 11 attacks.

US President George W. Bush, facing his own election next month, has claimed the Afghan vote as a foreign policy success and is hoping it can be mirrored in Iraq. "Today's an appropriate day for Americans to remember and thank the men and women of our armed forces who liberated Afghanistan," Bush said as he campaigned in St Louis. -Reuters