"I congratulate the Afghan people today on the parliamentary elections, despite the violence carried out by those attempting to deny the people's most basic democratic right," he said in a statement.

He said voters and candidates had shown their "determination to resist intimidation as they choose their own leaders and path for their country."

"This election has been led by the Afghan authorities and I want to commend them for their preparations," he added.

Rasmussen also paid tribute to the national security forces who, alongside NATO troops, worked to ensure the safety of voters and candidates.

Legislative elections on Saturday were marred by Taliban violence which killed 14 people.

Some 40 percent of Afghans had participating by the close of voting, according to Fazil Ahmad Manawi, president of the electoral commission.

earlier related report
US Afghan policy unlikely to change: report
Washington (AFP) Sept 18, 2010 - US policy toward Afghanistan is unlikely to change following a December review because the administration of President Barack Obama has concluded it is sound, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The report came as Afghanistan began voting for a new parliament after a flurry of insurgent rocket attacks, with security forces on full alert following Taliban threats to derail the high-stakes election.

The vote is the latest step in a US-led process to bring democracy to the impoverished and deeply conservative Muslim country ravaged by 30 years of war and gripped by a brutal nine-year Taliban insurgency.

The newspaper said the White House believed the US Afghan strategy retained enough public and political support to weather any near-term objections.

"The fundamentals are in the place where they should be," The Post quotes an unnamed senior administration official as saying.

Any adjustments will be akin to "moving the rabbit ears around a little bit to get better reception," the official said. "I don't think we'll be changing the channel come December."

earlier related report
Two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan: ministry
London (AFP) Sept 19, 2010 - Two British soldiers were killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced Sunday, adding that the deaths were unrelated to violence on the country's election day.

"The soldiers were killed in an explosion yesterday, September 18th, during a vehicle patrol in the Lashkar Gah District of Helmand Province," the MoD said in the statement.

One of the soldiers was from The Queen's Royal Lancers and the other from the Royal Engineers, the ministry said.

"These deaths were not as a result of insurgent activity aiming to disrupt the Afghan parliamentary elections," it added.

The latest casualties bring to 337 the number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since the start of the US-led invasion in 2001.

Around 10,000 British troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, the second largest contingent after the United States.

earlier related report
Top separatist calls off sit-in protests in Indian Kashmir
Srinagar, India (AFP) Sept 18, 2010 - Indian-administered Kashmir's top separatist said Saturday he has called off planned sit-in protests outside police and army camps fearing that some "miscreants" might sabotage the plan.

Syed Ali Geelani had called for locals to assemble peacefully in front of security force camps next Tuesday and shout slogans such as: "Go India, Go Back!"

But he cancelled the demonstrations "to prevent miscreants from sabotaging the peaceful programme," he said in a statement.

He said the decision was taken in view of "conspiracies being hatched by miscreants to get the people killed and malign the overall movement."

"People should now hold protests in their respective district headquarters," Geelani said.

The decision came after Indian police shot dead three more protesters in Kashmir on Saturday as crowds defied curfews to pelt security forces with stones in the latest unrest in the Himalayan region.

A total of 102 people have died since anti-India protests erupted in June, according to an AFP tally, with 17 killed on Monday in the worst civilian violence in the Muslim-majority region since an armed revolt began two decades ago.

The sit-ins would have been the first of their kind in the wave of rolling demonstrations sweeping the region and would have posed a new challenge to security forces as they struggle to restore order.

Despite being placed under house arrest by Indian authorities, Geelani, 81, has emerged as the chief organiser of the protests.

The nearly daily popular protests are the biggest since the armed revolt against Indian rule erupted in Kashmir in 1989 and are testing India's sovereignty over the region.

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