Afghans Begin Historic Vote Under Militant Threat
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Afghans began voting Saturday in a  historic poll which will give the mountainous Islamic nation on  the ancient Silk Road its first elected president and perhaps  end over a quarter-century of war.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- In schools and mosques, wearing suits and burkas, Afghans voted yesterday in the first presidential election, and did not suffer the widespread violence that officials had feared. But the ballot was thrown into doubt when candidates challenging interim President Hamid Karzai called the results invalid after many stations used the wrong ink to mark voters' thumbs.
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With a threatened boycott its historic  presidential election firmly relegated to the background,  Afghanistan took first steps on Tuesday to begin counting  votes.
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The campaign for Afghanistan's first  direct presidential election opened to little fanfare on  Tuesday, but the Taliban -- ousted in 2001 in a U.S.-led  invasion -- vowed again to disrupt the Oct. 9 poll.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai campaigned on Tuesday for the first time since an assassination attempt last month, telling cheering supporters a historic vote
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Vote counting in Afghanistan&#39;s presidential election got under way Thursday, five days after a landmark vote meant to cement a new era of stability after more than two decades of strife.
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Taliban guerrillas fired rockets in parts  of Afghanistan on Friday, the eve of the first presidential  election in the rugged, war-torn land, underlining the threat  of sabotage by the Islamic fundamentalist insurgents.
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Rockets rained on Afghan cities and military posts and a huge truck bomb was seized as the war-weary nation prepared for Saturday's historic presidential elections under the threat of further militant attacks.
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World News, KABUL - Voting began in Afghanistan Saturday for the first direct presidential election in the countryâs history. Some 10.
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Afghanistan was set to start counting votes on Wednesday from a historic presidential election after several candidates backed off from declaring the poll illegal.
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Campaigning is under  way for Afghanistan's presidential poll, amid warnings of insecurity and intimidation.
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Millions of Afghans prepared for a  historic poll on Saturday, which will give the mountainous  Islamic nation on the ancient Silk Road its first elected  president and perhaps end over a quarter century of war.
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Afghans are voting in a historic poll that aimed to give the mountainous and impoverished Islamic nation its first elected president and perhaps end over a quarter-century of war.
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U.S. forces in Afghanistan vowed on  Wednesday to bolster security in the volatile south and  southeast ahead of a landmark election, as Taliban guerrillas  bent on disrupting the poll launched a fresh wave of attacks.
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With a threatened boycott of its historic  presidential election firmly relegated to the background,  Afghanistan took first steps on Tuesday to begin counting  votes.
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An election worker sorts out a ballot at the vote counting center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004. Afghanistan was expected to start counting votes on Wednesday.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Vote counting started yesterday in Afghanistan's landmark election, widely expected to install US-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai as the war-ravaged country's first popularly chosen president.