Afghans line up to vote in presidential runoff
Source: AP-EXCITE
By AMIR SHAH and MIRWAIS KHAN
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Despite a Taliban threat to stay away, Afghans lined up Saturday to vote in a presidential runoff between two candidates who both promise to improve ties with the West and combat corruption as they confront a powerful Taliban insurgency and preside over the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of the year.
Whoever wins faces major challenges in trying to bolster Afghanistan's security forces against a relentless insurgency and improving the nation's economy and infrastructure at a time when international aid for Afghanistan is drying up. But many said just holding the country's first peaceful transfer of authority was a major success.
The presidential hopefuls —former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank official and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai — differ more in personality in policy. Both have promised to sign a long-delayed security pact with the United States. That would allow nearly 10,000 American troops to remain in the country for two more years to conduct counterterrorism operations and continue training and advising the ill-prepared Afghan army and police.
"I voted today for my future, because it is still not clear — the country is at war and corruption is everywhere and security is terrible. I want the next president to bring security above all and jobs," said 20-year-old Marya Nazami, who voted for Ahmadzai.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140614/as--afghanistan-election-8b033a806f.html
An Afghan woman inks her finger before casting her vote inside a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, June 14, 2014. Despite Taliban threats of violence, many Afghans vow to cast ballots in Saturday{2019}s presidential runoff vote with hopes that whoever replaces President Hamid Karzai will be able to provide security and stability after international forces wind down their combat mission at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Gulbuddin Elham)
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