+ GMT Select Your Local Time London GMT Johannesburg Lagos Cairo Accra Mogadishu Abuja Cape Town Free Town Addis Ababa Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Australia Sydney Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Brazil East Brazil West Canada Toronto Canada Pacific China Beijing Cuba Cyprus Denmark Egypt Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hon Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kenya Korea (Rep. of) Kuwait Lebanon Liberia Libya Luxemburg Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Mexico City Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Moscow Russia Vladivostok Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom USA Washington USA San Francisco USA New York USA Hawaii Venezuela Yemen Zaire Kinshasa Zaire Katanga Zambia Zimbabwe STO
[Pacific Sighting] See Makkah Clock
EsinIslam
Web
Site Explore
Exclusive Search
Broadcasters
Helping Shops
Home | Explore | Broadcasters | Media | Donations | About Us | Contact | Fatwa | Our Sheikh
Save
Desperate Karzai Begs Taliban To Join Him In American Sponsored Elections
30 June 2009 Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has called on the Taliban and other local fighters to vote in landmark elections scheduled for August. At a press conference on Saturday, Karzai said all eligible Afghans should register and cast their ballots in the August 20 presidential and provincial council elections. "It is also my wish that our Taliban brothers and all other Afghans who are not in Afghanistan for various reasons and are standing in opposition ... I request them again and again to renounce violence, not only on the election day but forever," Karzai said. Forty-one candidates are running for president and a recent poll showed Karzai with a big lead over his opponents. Karzai also extended his appeal to Taliban fighters based in Pakistan, where many of them fled following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has called on the Taliban and other local fighters to vote in landmark elections scheduled for August.
At a press conference on Saturday, Karzai said all eligible Afghans should register and cast their ballots in the August 20 presidential and provincial council elections.
"It is also my wish that our Taliban brothers and all other Afghans who are not in Afghanistan for various reasons and are standing in opposition ... I request them again and again to renounce violence, not only on the election day but forever," Karzai said.
Forty-one candidates are running for president and a recent poll showed Karzai with a big lead over his opponents.
Karzai also extended his appeal to Taliban fighters based in Pakistan, where many of them fled following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Concerns that Taliban fighters will attack the polling stations and prevent Afghans from voting - especially in the southern areas of the country - have grown as the Taliban regains control of parts of Afghanistan. While the Taliban and other fighters have not announced direct plans to target polls, they have told Afghans to boycott the elections. Two of the more than 3,000 candidates for the provincial councils have been murdered in recent weeks. Intimidation fears The US and other allies have pledged thousands of extra soldiers to protect polling stations and are bankrolling the elections at a cost of $220m. Last week, Nato's senior military commander warned that fighters could block transport routes and use intimidation to interfere with the elections. "I'm sure there will be attempts by the insurgents, the Taliban, to interfere with the polling," John Craddock, Nato's supreme allied commander in Europe, said at his headquarters in Belgium. Karzai urged fighters to contribute to leading the country towards stability through elections and called on candidates to prioritise national unity. "We can try for peace through elections, and through elections we can bring development to this country," he said. Karzai also warned against "interference" by any country, which he said might want to influence the outcome of the elections.
EsinIslam.Com
Sign In Password