Afghan candidates given go-ahead

Hamid Karzai is the favourite

Afghan election officials have approved 18 candidates for landmark presidential elections due on 9 October.

Poll organisers rejected three of the original 23 hopefuls. Two pulled out.

Interim President Hamid Karzai is the favourite but faces strong challenges from three main contenders, all of whom made it through the vetting process.

The vote was twice put off because of voter registration problems and violence by militants opposed to the US-backed administration in Kabul.

Three of them were to be rejected for failure to comply with the nomination procedures Joint Electoral Management Body

Candidates had to prove they have the support of at least 10,000 voters under the rules of the presidential elections, which is being jointly supervised by Afghans and officials from the United Nations.

With so many candidates standing, some observers have questioned whether Mr Karzai, a member of the majority Pashtun ethnic group, can win in the first round and avoid a run-off.

Voter support

Observers say his strongest opponents are Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostum, former education minister Yunus Qanuni and Hazara leader Mohammed Mohaqiq.

The elections have been put off twice this year

Mr Qanuni has the backing of the powerful Defence Minister Mohammed Qasim Fahim and the Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

The trio are all ethnic Tajiks from northern Afghanistan's Panjshir valley, and are senior members of the Northern Alliance that joined with US-led troops to topple the Taleban in 2001.

General Dostum is expected to win the support of the Uzbek and Turkmen ethnic minorities in the north.

Mr Mohaqiq has a loyal following among the Shia Hazaras of central Afghanistan and is also likely to get many votes from Hazaras still living as refugees in Iran and Pakistan.

A lone woman candidate, Dr Massouda Jalal, was also approved.

Complaints

The chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body said it had received 115 objections to 11 of the original candidates.

He said each person had been given a chance to respond to the complaints against them before a decision was made.

Three candidates "were to be rejected for failure to comply with the nomination procedures", a the body said. Two others withdrew from the race on Monday.

The three men with the most complaints raised against them, according to the electoral body, remain on the final list - they are Mr Dostum, Mr Mohaqiq and another Hazara leader, Karim Khalili, who is Mr Karzai's number two running mate.