ELECTION DAY GOING WELL IN AFGHANISTAN, SAYS TOP UN ENVOY

The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said he was pleased with the way the country's elections were taking place and there had been less violence than he had feared, during a visit to a local polling station in the capital, Kabul, midway through Election Day.

"I am pleased to see that the elections have been going quite well," Kai Eide, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, told reporters.

"There are scattered incidents here and there, but as you see, in general it seems to be working well, and I am pleased about that."

There had been several attacks in the days leading up to the presidential and provincial council elections, including Tuesday's blast in Kabul which claimed the lives of two UN staffers and at least five others.

But Mr. Eide, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that there has not been as much violence today as had been expected.

"There have been some attacks, but I must say, all in all, it is at a lower level than I had feared," he stated. "Also, the kind of spectacular attacks that we were warned about have not happened."

Some 17 million voters have been registered to take part in today's polls, the first to be organized by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Voters will choose from 41 presidential candidates, including two women, and more than 3,000 candidates who are competing for provincial council seats.

Mr. Eide noted that the elections are, first and foremost, important for the Afghan people but that they are also crucial for the country's international partners.

"They also demonstrate that the investments that we made over all these years are important and that this commitment must be long term, but based much more on Afghan leadership and ownership of the whole process."

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