WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - Afghanistan's historic presidential elections on Saturday will signal the end of Islamic extremism and set the pace for "irreversible" democracy, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
He said parliamentary elections next spring followed by the seating of parliament and ongoing strengthening of local institutions and deepening of civic education would "embody the consolidation of democracy" in the country, ridden by decades of internal conflict.
"The (presidential) elections, while extremely important, are part of an ongoing and irreversible process," Powell said in an opinion piece on Saturday's polls, titled "Democracy Rises in Afghanistan," for placement in foreign papers.
For the first time in their history, Afghans will select a national leader by secret ballot, and with the full support of the international community.
More than 10.5 million voters have registered, 42 percent of them women. In addition, 740,000 eligible Afghan refugees registered to vote from Pakistan, and up to half a million Afghan refugees are eligible to vote from Iran.
The United Nations estimates about 9.8 million voters will cast their ballots at 5,000 polling stations around the country on Saturday.
It may take up to two weeks to compile the results.
Security had been tightened following threats to disrupt the polls by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and remnants of the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime, ousted by a US-led invasion in late 2001,
On the eve of elections, rockets rained on Afghan cities and military posts and a huge truck bomb had been seized.
But front-runner and US-backed interim President Hamid Karzai said conditions were right for a "fairly free" election despite "terrorist attacks" and reports of intimidation by drug-funded warlords.
Powell said Afghanistan would emerge as "a moderate and democratic society, true to its Islamic heritage, as well as an enduring ally in the war against terrorism."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said a bipartisan US delegation would be among 500 international observers at the elections.
The delegation is headed by former US Ambassador Richard Williamson and former Assistant Secretary of State Bernard Aronson.