United Nations officials say preparations for
Afghanistan's October 9 presidential election are on track, despite
expectations of violence. U.N. and Afghan diplomats reject warnings that
powerful warlords will try to
hijack the vote.
With a week and a half to go before election day, U.N. Undersecretary
General Jean-Marie Guehenno says recruitment of 125,000 poll workers has
been completed in six of Afghanistan's eight regions. 16,000 more
observers and poll monitors will be stationed at 5,000 voting centers
nationwide.
Ten million people have registered to vote in what will be
Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election.
Briefing the Security Council Tuesday, Mr. Guehenno cautioned that the
process remains vulnerable to what he called "the prevailing level of
insecurity." He said in some areas where security staff is spread thin,
tribal elders, some of them often referred to as "warlords," are being
asked to help out.
"Tribal elders have been requested to both provide security and work
with local councils to ensure that those attempting to disrupt the process
are deterred or discouraged," he said. "In most cases, the response has
been extremely positive."
Mr. Guehenno's briefing came a day after a human rights group warned
that powerful warlords were hijacking the election process. The group
Human Rights Watch issued a report saying armed factions, some of them
allied with the United States, were using force, threats and corruption to
win over voters.
Both Mr. Guehenno and Afghanistan's U.N. ambassador, Ravan Farhadi,
brushed off the report's conclusions. Ambassador Farhadi predicted that
many of those described by Human Rights Watch as warlords would be among
those helping with election preparations.
"This is just their way of propaganda, because the warlords, I mean
they were calling warlords those who serve Afghanistan," he said. "A man
like Ismail Khan, like [Abdul Rashid] Dostum, General Atta [Mohammed],
they are all serving Afghanistan for peace."
Undersecretary General Guehenno said he had heard reports of voter
intimidation, but was
confident they would not affect the credibility of elections.
The Afghan election is widely seen as a test of the Bush
administration's policies in that region.
Mr. Guehenno predicted the vote would be far from perfect, but said he
was confident any disruptions would not be enough to damage the
credibility of the election. |