[ Afghan Elections 2004-2005 ]

Campaigning officially ended on 6 October for Afghanistan's first presidential election scheduled for 9 October, international news agencies reported. At an election rally held in Kabul on 6 October, frontrunner Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai said that "the future of Afghanistan for centuries ahead will be determined" by the upcoming election, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported. The rally held by Karzai was his second official election campaign gathering, while he also made a trip to northern Afghanistan to open a new road (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 September 2004). Karzai's first campaign rally was held on 5 October in the south-central Ghazni Province, the BBC reported on 6 October. In Kabul, Karzai told a crowd estimated at 6,000 who had gathered at a stadium that he would "respect the vote of the nation" in the case that "someone else wins the polls," AFP reported on 6 October. Campaigning began on 7 September. (Amin Tarzi)