Afghanistan holds landmark legislative elections
(18 Sep 2005) SHOTLIST 1. Mid shot of Bismillah Bismil, chief of the Joint Electoral Management Body casting his vote 2. Various electoral officials preparing ballots 3. Various woman in burka casting her vote 4. More of women voting 5. Shukria Barkzai from Independent Party getting registered 6. Shukria voting 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shukria Barkzai, Independent Party candidate: "In my point of view we have a very bright future, because today the Afghan women show their own strength, their own power, their aim and wishes for reconstruction..to bring reforms in this country. Really I am glad for them participating and bagging for democratic process, specially for their own rights." 8. More of voting scenes STORYLINE: Afghans braved threats of violence Sunday to vote in landmark legislative elections, hoping to entrench a fragile democracy after decades of war and sideline the Taliban militants who fought to undermine the polling. Some 12.4 million Afghans were registered to vote at more than 6,000 polling stations, guarded by some 100,000 Afghan police and soldiers and 30,000 foreign troops. U.N. and U.S. officials predicted a massive turnout despite a Taliban call for a boycott of the elections. The Taliban said they would not attack civilians heading to the polls but warned them to stay away from areas where the militants might attack security forces. A wave of assaults in the 48 hours leading up to the vote left nine militants and three policemen dead. Security forces said they thwarted four rebel bombings, including an attempt to blow up a massive dam. Chief election organiser Bismillah Bismil was one of the first to vote. Afterward, he told reporters he was praying to God that for a "peaceful, stable and acceptable vote for Afghanistan." The ballot was seen as the last formal step toward democracy on a path set out after a U.S.-led force drove the Taliban from power in 2001, when they refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11 attacks. Presidential elections last October saw Hamid Karzai entrenched as the nation's leader. Many people hoped the legislative polls would marginalise the insurgents and end a spiral of violence that started in 1979 when Soviet troops invaded, before a devastating civil war and the oppressive rule of the hard-line Taliban. The U.N. said militants had failed to disrupt preparations for the polls despite violence during the six months leading up to the vote that killed 1,200 people, including seven candidates and four election workers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
