Afghans Uninterested in Elections, Syrian Author Says

The forthcoming presidential elections in Afghanistan were the latest concern of the Afghan people, who are suffering from poverty, occupation, and the cultivation of narcotic plants, said Abdulhalim Suod in an August 3 op-ed article in the official newspaper, Al-Thawra.



The author accused western countries of seeking to carry out the elections on August 20 under a heavy military presence and without taking into consideration the needs of the local people.



The elections would be a “great opportunity” for the Taleban - the fundamentalist Islamist movement fighting western troops in Afghanistan – to attack western armed forces, the author said.



He said western media would not question the legitimacy of the elections and would overlook the fact that they would take place under the control of 100,000 foreign soldiers.