Reax in Helmand province as campaigning beghins for run-off vote

(24 Oct 2009) 1. Various of Lashkar Gah city, capital of Helmand province 2. SOUNDBITE: (Pashto) Nematullah Khan, Lashkar Gah resident "The elections will take place and we will vote, because it is a very important event , but we do not want what happened in the past elections when no one paid attentions to our votes. We will vote again and see what will come out of it." 3. Wide of Lashkar Gah city 4. SOUNDBITE: (Pashto) Lal Mohammad, Lashkar Gah resident "There was violence in the past elections. I think less than 15 percent of people will vote because people are scared of the Taliban." 5. Wide shot exterior of IEC office in Helmand 6. Mid of sign board 7. SOUNDBITE: (Pashto) Abdul Hadi, IEC (Independent Elections Commission) chief in Helmand "We are sure that the elections will take place successfully, but because of Taliban threats a minority will vote. I call on people to participate at the elections." Various of Lashkergah city capital of Helmand province STORYLINE: Taliban fighters warned Afghans not to take part in the war-wracked country's upcoming presidential runoff, threatening on Saturday to launch a fresh wave of violence on polling day to stop them. The Taliban warnings came on the first official day of campaigning for the 7 November vote. The militant group denounced the race between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah as "a failed, American process" and said its fighters would "launch operations against the enemy and stop people from taking part. One resident in Lashkar Gah, capital of the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, said he hoped this time round his vote would be counted. Another man said people were too scared of the Taliban to go out and vote. Abdul Hadi, IEC (Independent Elections Commission) chief in Helmand called on citizens to come out and vote. "We are sure that the elections will take place successfully, but because of Taliban threats, a minority will vote. I call on people to participate at the elections," he said. The statement said Taliban militants would also cut off key roads and highways, and warned that anyone who casts a ballot "will bear responsibility for their actions." Taliban fighters killed dozens of civilians during the first round on 20 August, barraging several southern cities with rocket fire and cutting off the ink-stained fingers of at least two people who cast ballots in the militant south. A spokesman for Karzai's campaign said they are concerned about more violence during the runoff vote, but said there was no other legal option and ruled out any sort of negotiated power-sharing deal. Security fears are just one of the challenges election officials face as they scramble to organise the election amid the swelling Taliban insurgency and before the advent of winter, which begins in much of the country around the middle of November, isolating remote villages and cutting off roads with snow. 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...