http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aGvEzIoLagl8&refer=home
Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — Afghanistan’s registration of 90 percent of eligible voters for elections shows attacks by suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters won’t stop moves toward democracy, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
“The surge in registration that has taken place throughout the country has to be a very vivid demonstration of the Afghan people’s determination to make democracy work,” Rumsfeld said yesterday during a visit to Kabul, according to the American Forces Press Service. The registration numbers are “impressive,” Rumsfeld said.
More than 9.4 million Afghans have registered to take part in the presidential and parliamentary elections, the Press Service cited Afghan President Hamid Karzai as saying at a news conference with Rumsfeld.