Afghans register for voting in '09

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan began registering voters Monday for next year's presidential polls, an election likely to be the most dangerous and challenging since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.

The Islamist militant movement, which has regained control of large swathes of the country, said it will not participate — and warned other Afghans not to.

Still, officials hope to register millions of new voters for the fall 2009 vote, said Zekria Barakzai, spokesman for the Independent Election Commission.

President Hamid Karzai is seeking a second term, and elections will also be held for 34 provincial assemblies.

Violence is likely to disrupt the process from the start, particularly in Afghanistan's south and east, where the militants are strongest.

Violence across eastern Afghanistan is up about 30 percent this year compared with 2007. More U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year than in any other year since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

"These are the most challenging elections because of the security situation," Barakzai said.

Already, some voter-registration equipment has not been able to reach remote centers in central Ghazni province, where the Taliban have growing sway. Authorities may use helicopters to transport the equipment, Barakzai said.

Registration material meant for delivery was stopped and burned by unknown gunmen in Kunar province.

In another sign of the difficulties Afghanistan's voter-registration drive could face, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Monday that hundreds of thousands might leave their homes during winter months because of drought, insecurity and rising food prices.

Afghanistan has already conducted two sets of elections since 2001.

Presidential elections were held in 2004 and parliamentary elections took place in 2005. Taliban militants did not disrupt either one.

The cost for both of those elections was $359 million, Barakzai said.

Voter registration will take place in four phases and should end by February.

Some 12.6 million people in a country of some 30 million were registered for the previous elections.

Report: Taliban,

Afghan officials meet

KABUL, Afghanistan — A former Taliban ambassador said Monday that hard-line militants sat with Afghan officials and Saudi King Abdullah over an important religious meal in Saudi Arabia last month as the insurgency raged back home.

Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, denied the get-together could be construed as peace talks. But President Hamid Karzai has long called for negotiations with the Taliban, and the meeting could spur future initiatives.

With U.S. and NATO forces suffering their deadliest year so far in Afghanistan, the top U.N. envoy, Kai Eide, said Monday that the war "has to be won through political means."

A spokesman for Karzai's office declined to comment on the alleged meeting in Saudi Arabia.

But Zaeef said he was invited by the Saudi king to share Iftar — the meal that breaks the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Taliban representatives, Afghan government officials and a representative for the powerful warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were also at the meal, he said.

He said all parties talked socially with each other over the dinner but that they did not discuss any issue involving Afghanistan. It was not clear how many guests attended the dinner or where in Saudi Arabia it was held.

The Associated Press