17 October 2004 -- Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai was well ahead of his rivals in Afghanistan's presidential election with nearly 5 percent of the ballots counted.
Election officials said former Education Minister Mohammad Yunos Qanuni was trailing in second place, with General Abdul Rashid Dostum in third.
Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential election was completed without major violence but was hit by allegations of fraud. An international panel has been appointed to investigate the accusations.
Electoral officials are urging caution about predicting the result. AP quoted Reginald Austin, the chief technical adviser to the joint UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), as saying it would be "unwise" to extrapolate from incomplete results. He noted this is the first vote of its kind in Afghanistan and said "unknown patterns may emerge."
(AP/AFP)
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