Afghans Vote in Historic Poll; Scattered Violence
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Afghans voted Saturday 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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Afghanistan's presidential vote count neared its end with Hamid Karzai edging closer to victory, but a weekend suicide blast in Kabul offered a deadly reminder of the dangers facing the war-weary nation.
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Afghan children and U.S. soldiers were among six people reported killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, a week after millions voted in a landmark election they hope will bring peace back to their war-ravaged nation.
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Six people, including three children and two US soldiers, have been reported killed in Afghanistan, a week after millions voted in a landmark election meant to help bring peace back to their war-ravaged nation.
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Afghan children and U.S. soldiers were  among six people reported killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, a  week after millions voted in a landmark election they hope will  bring peace back to their war-ravaged nation.
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KABUL Vote counting in Afghanistan&#39;s presidential election got under way on 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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Election officials in Afghanistan have collected ballots from a historic presidential vote, which started enthusiastically but ended in turmoil after most of the candidates announced a boycott.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Campaigning for Afghanistan's first direct presidential election ended with a burst of violence Wednesday as attackers set off a bomb in a failed effort to kill interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running-mate.    Despite persistent violence, the United Nations declared this hard-luck nation ready for Saturday's vote, a historic experiment with democracy after more than two decades of unrelenting ruin, from Soviet occupation to civil war to the repressive Taliban and the thunderous U.S...
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As the war-weary Afghans are getting closer to the first-ever presidential polls, the spiraling violence is going to hamper the ongoing stabilization process in the post-war nation, observers here believe.
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This freshly minted democracy is about to hold the first open election in its history, but Saturday&#39;s vote fills Afghans here both with elation and fear.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's first direct presidential election Saturday will be a historic experiment with democracy after more than two decades of ruin, from Soviet occupation to civil war to the repressive Taliban and the thunderous U.S. bombing campaign that ended their rule...
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Afghans have braved threats of Taliban attacks to begin voting in a historic presidential election that they hope will mark the beginning of the end to a quarter century of conflict.
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6 October 2004 -- Campaigning in Afghanistan&#39;s presidential election drew to a close today amid violence, as the nation prepares to cast ballots in its first democratic vote on 9 October.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghans packed polling stations on Saturday for a historic presidential election that was blemished when all 15 candidates opposing U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew, charging the government and the U.N. with fraud and incompetence...
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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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On Saturday, Afghans will vote for the first time in a presidential election that could advance the cause of democracy, or just as easily provoke widespread disillusionment.
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As Bibi Gul voted in Afghanistan's landmark presidential election Saturday, she cried recalling how she lost her husband to war, raised five children under the Taliban and was threatened with having her hand chopped off if she dared cast her ballot.