(20 Aug 2009) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Kabul street
2. Wide of Afghan police at road block
3. Low short of Afghan police officer holding automatic weapon
4. Close-up of Afghan police officer
5. Various of Afghan police at road block as cars drive through
6. Various of Afghan police searching car passengers and vehicle
7. Close-up of Afghan police officer
8. Low shot of cars driving past with gun in shot
9. Wide of Afghan police at road block
STORYLINE
As (m) millions of Afghans prepared to cast their ballots in Afghanistan's national elections on Thursday, security was tight amid threats of Taliban violence.
Armed Afghan police officers set up road blocks in the capital city of Kabul and carried out extensive searches.
Fears of violence and rumours of fraud have cast a shadow on the country's election, in which (m) millions will choose a new president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government.
International officials predict an imperfect outcome for a vote that they hope Afghans will accept as credible - a key component of President Barack Obama's war strategy.
On the eve of the balloting, the US military announced the deaths of six more Americans - putting August on track to become the deadliest month for American forces since the war began in 2001.
Fearing that violence may dampen turnout, the Foreign Ministry asked news organisations to avoid "broadcasting any incidence of violence" during voting hours "to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people."
Afghan journalists said they would not comply, but the government said offending foreign journalists could be expelled.
Rising death tolls underscored the urgency of establishing a strong, effective government to stem the growing Taliban insurgency.
President Hamid Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban was ousted eight years ago, is favoured to finish first among 36 official candidates, although a late surge by former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah could force a runoff if no one wins more than 50 percent.
Preliminary results were expected to be announced on Saturday.
Karzai, a favourite of the Bush administration, won in 2004 with 55.4 percent of the vote, riding into office on a wave of public optimism after decades of war and ruinous Taliban rule.
As the US shifted resources to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan fell into steep decline, marked by record opium poppy harvests, deepening government corruption and skyrocketing violence.
Faced with growing public discontent, Karzai has sought to ensure his re-election by striking alliances with regional power brokers, naming as a running-mate a Tajik strongman whom he once fired as defence minister and welcoming home notorious Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, allegedly involved in the deaths of up to 2-thousand Taliban prisoners early in the Afghan war.
Those figures are believed capable of delivering (m) millions of votes among their followers, but their presence in the Karzai inner circle has raised fears in Western capitals that the president would be unable to fulfil promises to fight corruption in a second term.
Voter turnout - especially in the insurgency-plagued Pashtun south - is likely to be crucial not only to Karzai's chances but also to public acceptance of the results.
Karzai is widely expected to run strong among his fellow Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group which also forms the overwhelming majority of the Taliban.
Abdullah, son of a Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, is expected to win much of his votes in the Tajik north, where security is better and turnout likely to be bigger.
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