KABUL, March 26: The United Nations has urged Afghanistan to delay presidential and parliamentary polls until September, but the government is still studying the timing, an Afghan government official said on Friday.

President Hamid Karzai is expected to decide on an election date before leaving on Monday for a March 31-April 1 Afghan donors' conference in Berlin, Karzai's spokesman said.

The timing and conduct of the election is important as analysts believe US President George W. Bush is looking to the polls for a foreign policy success story ahead of his own re-election bid in November.

Under a 2001 agreement that led to the establishment of Karzai's government, elections are supposed to be held in June, but that date is no longer considered viable given slow registration of voters and security worries.

Karzai's spokesman Jawed Ludin said Karzai chaired a meeting on Wednesday on three UN proposals: a presidential election in July, followed by parliamentary polls in September; simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls in September, and presidential polls in September and parliamentary in Spring 2005.

"The UN analysis is that the second option is their recommended option, but no decision has been made yet," Ludin told Reuters. "We are studying all options."

Ludin said the UN report suggested a July election might not provide enough time to organise security to ensure safe elections. Security worries were heightened last week by fighting between pro-government forces in Herat, until then considered one of the most peaceful parts of the country. -Reuters