on hamid karzai. >> indesuggests. hamid karzai's face is not fixed. >> farmer french president nicholas sar cosy. >> sour. >> angela merkel. >> bitter. >> likely the most telling - take a look at how he sees russian president vladimir putin, whose soul bush once said he could see. >> it's not a friendly painting. he seems to have changed his mind. wherever he saw, he was wrong. >> started with a self-portrait. >> he turned the art op himself. >> is that confidence. >> i think so. >> neck fat. >> neck fat - will dot date >> there's a big proportion of neck fat. >> it's real. >> takes confidence for any artist to expose work to the crit. this is a former president who has more than a few of those, and could be seen as bush responding. >> he's been reluctant to make a statement about his administration. like the rest of the world he's wrestling with what it meant. >> is he painting or sending a message. people will likely be polarized in their opinions. >> now, a salvadorian fisherman who claimed to be lost at sea for 13

if zalmai rassoul wins, who is close to hamid karzai, if hamid karzai is against this for principled reasons, he may try to pressure zalmai rassoul not to sign it. i think it's up in the air. >> how much influence does hamid karzai have in politics? >> a lot of afghans believe he'll try to remain influential, he's backing zalmai rassoul in the hopes of playing a putin role to medvedev. in russia the prime minister and president kind of switched for a while. so i think the evidence is that hamid karzai wants to continue to have a great deal of influence. >> you think he will continue, for lack of a better issue, pull the strings in afghanistan? >> well, it depends on who wins. if it's someone close to him, certainly i think he'll make the attempt. >> is he close to all the leading candidate at this point. >> all the leading candidates served with him. he is not close to abdullah abdullah, or to ashraf ghani ahmadzai. if zalmai rassoul gets in it would be a continuity of the hamid karzai administration. >> let's talk about the taliban. the fact that they did not laux a large-scale -- l

millions turned out to choose a successor for president hamid karzai. he's been in power for 13 years. for whoever wins, they need to decide whether to sign an agreement to allow 10,000 u.s. soldiers to stay in afghanistan. >> the queue started forming well before the polling stations opened. despite the threats to tart the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000-year history, this election marks the first democratic transfer of power. people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the threat, you can see everyone coming here. for me, i don't have any kind of work. 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country where the taliban held sway polling stations were sold. >> this is the scene, people queueing up after going through a security check. they dip their finger in ink, they pick up the ballot papers, go into the privacy of the booth, cast their vote and cast the ballot in the box. the blue one is for the presidential election, the clean from the provincial. there are eight canned dats. the p

including abdullah abdullah, but lost to hamid karzai in 2009. another is ghani, a warmer world bank official and afghan finance minister. he contested the vote in 2009. and a previously serving foreign minister, one of hamid karzai's closest allies. >> let's cross to our correspondent bernard smith, in kabul for us. how is the day shaping up? >> well, despite the cold, rainy damp weather, there is a significant turn out to vote as far as we under. we have been around - my colleagues have been around looking at polling stations. lots of people turning out to vote. the weather is better. $12 million, 12.5 million afghan residents to vote. this is the first time in the history informant 5,000-year history of the country that there'll be a democratic transfer of power. many afghans, despite the threat from the taliban are keen to take part. i'm drawn by haroon who will be with us watching the election. what will be the decider on whether the election will be free. >> 7 o'clock people have come out of your homes to go and vote. we are not seeing tali

previously foreign minister was seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. the support could come with a legacy of corruption linked to this government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. you were part of that government. what would you do differently? >> i think first of all i have not been involved in anticorruption issues. i repeat myself, that the fact that i have been involved, i know it's happening. i know which kind of thing we should do correct that. >> i want to put the experience that i got and the achievement and lack of achievement in the service of the afghan people. whilst he was foreign minister, hamid karzai refused to sign a bilateral security agreement with the u.s., allowing some foreign troops to remain in the country, throwing relations with the u.s. into crisis. >> the fundamental of relation with the taliban. we are province, it happened with the friends. i was involved on drafting it from the afghan side with my other colleague. i believe that the national intere

hamid karzai said the same thing in the past, in the distant past. how are we convenienced that the candidates will sign the deal? >> whoever comes in will need american help no matter what, no matter how much they like it. if they want to sustain the capabilities of security forces they cannot do that with the economy. the afghan economy can't afford to pay the salaries of security forces. we are on the hook going forward just with a security capability. when the incoming president comes in, and he surveys the lay of the land and understands what is at stake, whether they want to return to the taliban, whether they want to give up everything that they have achieved so far, we'll be looking at signing the agreement quickly. >> let's talk about the numbers of american men and women over there. throughout the bush presidency the number was constant, around 30,000 american troops. by september of 2010 it was boosted to 98,000 in 2010. two years ago the u.s. began to scale back and the numbers of u.s. troops in afghanistan is 38,000 people. do you agree

hamid karzai is unable to stand for this election.rnalists -- let's now go to lyse doucet, chief international correspondent who asked the afghan interior minister. >> security is very tight. and the guys responsible for the security of this place may have had a wrong conclusion -- wrong calculation of the place or the person who was approaching them. but he is in custody. we were going to fully investigate what was the main reason this unfortunately incident happened. >> you seem to suggest that it wasn't a targeted killing, that it was a a case of mistaken identity. >> all the signs show it could have been mistaken identity or mistake -- or bad conclusion or calculation by a police officer who was responsible for the security of that area. but he's in custody. he's alive. so we are going to investigate to find out what went wrong on that particular moment. >> we understand that the journalists were traveling with a member of the independent election commission. can you tell us more about how they would have looked as they approached

president hamid karzai was the person to vote. it brings to an end 12 years of rule since the taliban came into power. >> i cast my vote, i'm glad and proud that i voted. i'm certain the event and our people's participation would take afghanistan towards stability and better lives for the people. >> kabul was locked down as part of an unprecedented security operation that mobilized 4-00,000 security personnel, bricking the numbers of attacks below the hevering in afghanistan. -- average in afghanistan. >> ballot counting started. there are allegations of fraud made already, testing the undepends of the election commission. >> i am not very confident that the complaints would be handled fairly, because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will act during the - the past experiences that we had with the two commissions have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act sin seriously or act in -- sincerely or in favour of one of the candidates. >> the commission is

the conversation we are joined by a former advisor to afghan president hamid karzai, and the author of" walking in the footsteps of lions," and tony schafer who served two combat tours in afghanistan and awarded the bronze star, and david, a defense department official on afghanistan and pakistan. welcome to "the stream." >> tony, americans have invested $700 billion, endless amounts of resources, 2,000 lives lost. how much of that hinges are on weekend. >> it comes down to selection, to be blunt. we talked before the opening of the show about the zero option. it is something that would leave afghanistan in a huge lurch. there's two reasons why. so much of what afghanistan depends upon right now is foreign aid coming in. about 30% of the economy is fuelled by illegal drug sales, and i don't think it's the way to go. what you need to look at is economic sovereignty. pentagon has been working on this. my friend who was working on this was trying to find a way to have afghanistan become economically soft. n.a.t.o. has done, they have left pretty much, and we are left holding the bag and t

with hamid karzai constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office, eight candidates are in the running to become afghanistan's next president. time finance minister and two democrats are considered the front-runners. officials have issued voter cuts to two thirds of the population. campaign rallies have attracted tens of thousands of afghans. talk amongstots of ordinary people about who is going to win. there has been huge media coverage. >> security is a prime concern for organizers. the taliban has stepped up attacks over the last few weeks. steered clear of disrupting the campaign. rallyacking an election the have chosen not to do. they realized that killing large numbers of afghan civilians is politically damaging to their reputation. >> still, nearly 200,000 troops are being deployed across the country. with the clear winner in the first rounds unlikely, afghanistan have to wait until the summer before the final results are known. talks areeast peace in jeopardy. let a response to the palestinians ratification of 15 international dimensions earlier this week. israel's

something that hamid karzai refused to sign. >> this is the big question. all the presidential candidates, the three frontrunners said they'll sign the agreement when they get into power. the problem is there may not be a final decision on who will be president until october. although we have the election today. there'll be no announcement in a couple of weeks. there'll be a run off. probably not until the end of may. it could be until the end of summer. the problem is u.s. troops are beginning to draw down. the u.s. government needs to know how many they'll leave behind. the candidatesly be the next president, but it will be a tight schedule. it will be a tight schedule whether the agreement can be signed before they leave. >> joining us now to discuss the presidential election in afghanistan as well, is scott smith. the director of afghanistan. director of the central asian program at the u.s. gellens of piece. >> how do you expect the vote to impact u.s. foreign policy inside afghanistan? >> i think that the high turn out is - the crucial element of the

who was the man who lost the 2009 election to hamid karzai. even though, apparently, the reports are that he's doing better than anyone else, especially in kabul where more votes had been counted. what do you say - actually, abdullah abdullah has not talked about fraud, but his running mate has. >> i think what you will see, the way the afghan election works, if no one gets 6% of the vote, it goes to a run off. >> if the two leading candidates are faced with a run off, they'll be happy, and the issue of fraud will not be too big. >> the other top candidate, zalmai rassoul, hamid karzai's favourite candidate - he will probably not be happy. his strong hold, the pashtun areas, there may have been issues there. >> yes, some of the areas that were more likely to support him. but russell's funny. there has been a lot of speculation that he didn't want to be in the election. he ran an enthusiastic campaign. i don't think he had a fight in him to try to contest if a count is in favour of abdullah abdullah. >> what kind of difference will it make depe

eight candidates were on the ballot, hoping to take over from outgoing president hamid karzai. he has been in 2001. >> vote counting is underway and election workers are busy. that was contrary to analyst protections. some polling centers stayed open longer because so many people were still in line. millions of afghans to find the threats of terrorist attacks. eager to do their part in choosing the next president. and men voted separately, everyone turning out expressed their longing for a democratic and secure afghanistan. i voted to guarantee the future of my country. the ballot box is a way to build our nation and show participation in these elections. we have come here to vote for an honest president who will work for this country. we are not frightened of anyone. >> outgoing president hamid karzai is not's nash said he was satisfied with the polls. >> despite the cold and rainy weather and threats of terrorist attacks, our sisters and brothers nationwide took part. your participation is a step forward and a success for afghanistan. three candidates are considered to have a

hamid karzai was one of the first to vote. the election brings to an end one of 13 years of rule beginning it 2001. >> i cast my vote as a citizen of this country. i'm certain of the event and participation takes afghanistan towards stability and better lies. >> there are eight presidential candidates. the other two are zalmai rassoul, and ashraf ghani ahmadzai. one will have to win 50% of the vote to avoid the run-off. the taliban told civilians they'll be targeted if they try to vote. there are plenty ignoring the warning. there's effort to minimise the risk of fraud. ballot boxes are sealed and coded and tracked. eat voter dips their finger in ink so they don't vote again. >> four weeks after malaysian airlines flight mh370 vanished. there's new hope that the jot may be found. a chinese ship reportedly detected a signal matching the frequency of the black box. it was found off the coast of az's west coast. the signal or a ping was detected this morning. three members of the ship's crew heard it but did not have time to reco

let's go back to zalmai rassoul, hamid karzai's top pick.is campaign was hit by allegations of fraud. he's calling on afghans to pout their faith in the electoral process. >> we put our request to the commission. it's up to them to decide. i'm confident they will look to that carefully. any president elected will not be legitimate for afghanistan. >> president obama offered his congratulations to the afghan people. in a statement the president said: >> people in india go the the polls starting on monday to cast ballots in the biggest elections. voting for the next prime minister will be held in nine stages over the next six weeks, we have this report from the north-east of ibdia -- india. >> the shreeking noise you here is the voting machines being tested. hundreds of officials gathered to collect and test the machines before taking them to their home constituencies. all votes will be cast by the machine, there'll be no paper ballots. it will be first of had time voting for half a million voters. it sounds like a lot. it's a fraction of the

voting is winding down in afghanistan, where people have been electing a successor to president hamid karzai. 13has been in office for years, since the u.s.-led invasion in 2001. tell them and have urged supporters to attack polling stations. >> voters lined up to cast ballots in the early morning. thece kept a close watch at polling stations, on the look for weapons. despite the threat of violence, many were determined to take part in the first ever democratic change of power. to participate, the process will put an end to the corrupt system. >> security forces are protecting us, so we are happy to come here to cast our votes. eight candidates are standing, but just three have a good chance of winning. abdallah abdullah came second in the last election in 2000 and third the former finance 2000 -- 2000.sh -- former prime minister finance minister is also running. is who hamid karzai is naming as his own successor. >> i'm asking you to come out and vote for a presidential candidate despite threats from our enemy. come out and vote for the success of our afghanistan. >> a runoff is expected to

president hamid karzai has been against it.hy are we so convinced these an dates will live up to their word and sign it? >> yeah, well, look. you know, you never know. it's something that has had widespread support, though. in fact, the afghan parliament has asked that the bsa be signed. >> there is really a lot of steam behind it. and really, once we get through the election, a lot of other things will no longer be so up in the air as far as the future of the country. and it will be a time to really start putting, you know, filling in the outlines of what have this country is going to look like in the next few years. i think it will be an easier time to sign the bsa. you are right. we never know until it's actually done. >> it's still not done. it's not a guarantee yet. a lot of encouraging news by today's election. there were not a lot of taliban attacks although they had been promised. the turnout was high. do you think, though, it's too early to claim a giant step forward for democracy for afghanistan? sc ? >> i think it is

. >> hamid karzai is said to be the first man in the entry's history to voluntarily cede power based a constitution and the will of the people. >> that does not necessarily mean the ballot will run smoothly. >> afghan election workers have begun distributing ballot boxes and say everything is on schedule for saturday's presidential vote. some 20,000 polling stations have been set up. once they arrive by truck, materials will be delivered by donkeys. taliban militants are threatening attacks on election day. kabul and other cities are on lockdown. some voters have not made up their minds whether to show up at polling stations. >> if there are threats of violence and people are afraid, then nobody will vote. i myself won't turn out to vote under those conditions. but security is very tight, so we will have to wait and see. >> president hamid karzai, who has led the country since the us-led invasion to topple the taliban in 2001, is constitutionally barred from a third term. one of those thought likely to succeed him, foreign minister abdullah abdullah, believes it will go well. >> is e

hamid karzai's fas is not fixed. indecision. >> german chancellor angela merkel. >> perhaps a bit bitter. >> likely the most telling - take a look at how he sees russian president vladimir putin, whose soul bush once said he could see. >> it's not a friendly painting. he seems to have changed his mind. whatever he saw he was wrong. >> started with a self-portrait. >> the former president turned the art on himself. do you think that's confidence? >> yes. >> there's neck fat. >> well... >> there's a big proportion of the net fat. >> it's very real. >> this is a former president with a few more of those, and could be seep as bush responding to critics, in a way. >> he's so reluctant to make a statement about his administration. he's wrestling with what it meant. is he painting or sending a message? much like his presidency people will likely be polarized in their opinions. >> interesting stuff. essel love et is an art critic and lecturer and told my colleague that the former president should be applauded. >> a lot of pe

in a few days we'll know who will succeed current president hamid karzai. there has been an increase in deadly violence as the deadline loms for n.a.t.o. -- looms for n.a.t.o. troop withdrawal. bernard smith has more. >> the queues formed before the polling stations open. despite the taliban threats to target the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000 year history, it marks the first democratic transfer of power. the people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the taliban. you can see everyone coming here. i don't have a threat from the taliban, for me. >> 12 million were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations are closed. this is repeated at polling sessions. people dip their finger in indelible ink to stop them voting twice, pick up their papers and cast their ballots in the boxes here. blue for presidential, green for provincial. the presidential vote is easy, there's eight candidates. for the provincial there's six pages like this, 400 can't tats in -- candidates in kabul. and each voting h

the ballot will replace president hamid karzai.you can see pulling off this vote is complicated by the taliban and it's threat of violence. >> reporter: the last-minute rush to register to vote in saturday's presidential election. these people are involved in a process that will end with the first democratic transfer of power in this country's 5,000 year history. despite the security threats there is clearly widespread enthusiasm to vote. these people have been queuing to register since before dawn. then ballot box stuffing was widespread. this time it should be different but it won't be perfect. >> really, everything has been delivered according to timeline, both in regard to broad legislative and other provisions, but also the delivery of the ballot papers sensitive as non-sensitive material to the 7,000, 6,000 o 0 odd centered. centers. >> the capitol has endured a series of attacks. as there are pockets of the country where there will be no voting because of the taliban threat. does the threat of the attack put you off. >> it d

the election marks the end of hamid karzai's 12 years in power. whoever replaces him has to decide whether to keep troops in afghanistan beyond this year. >> joining us now is a former chief of staff. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you for having me. >> let me get your thought. how big a hotel was it for afghanistan. >> it was huge. it was history rick. the afghan -- historic. the afghan people rose to hope and expectation. a major challenge lies ahead. that's the political outcome. the investment of international community has been vindicated by the resilience of the afghan people that fight taliban and terrorism lay down their life. it is now up to the political leaders to accept the outcome of the election. >> you say the investment has been vindicated. do you worry it's early. there's concerns of fraud and corruption and the taliban. >> i agree with you, it's premature to have a victory lap. by the same token, the major challenge is the political outcome, and that will be among the leaders, the person that win, and the person that

and considered as the person probably closest to hamid karzai and probably someone who has his blessing. i think the preliminary assessments made over the past 48 hours show that they seem to be heading the pack. that mesul is trailing, that he may not be able to go into the second round. i am speculating, but this is based on preliminary results that we see. either there will be a runoff all the way to the end, or that in between there will be a political arrangement. a coalition would be built, a government of national unity would be formed, and they will agree on sharing power. the other question is with president karzai leaving office and seeming to want to exercise some level of influence in the future and have a say about afghan policy in the future, whether he will be given -- how much space will he be given, and in what area, and whether he will be satisfied or not, but regardless of whether karzai is satisfied or not, what is important is we had a first round. the afghan people had a chance to go to the polling stations and deliver their ballots, and there is no momentum to a s

and president hamid karzai has .sfused to sign a security agreement that would allow u.s. troops to remain in afghanistan fst 2014. many fear the taliban will return in full force if american troops leave. presidential candidate abdullah abdullah told us his first priority would be to restore u.s. relations. you feel there is a need for a continued u.s. military presence here? >> absolutely. es.olutely. we need support from the united states. ightt will be-- it will be put, once again, on the right oroting. >> reporter: the taliban can already claim victory in some parts of the country, scott. election officials told us they had to close down around 10% of polling stations throughout afghanistan because they're in areas that are just too dangerous to protect. >> pelley: election day on saturday. charlie, thanks. the u.s. government hopes a new her husband was on flight 370, and she tells us about her agonizing wait. and the queen meets the pope when the wetern cbs evening news continues. i'm j-a-n-e and i have copd. i'm d-a-v-e and i have copd. i'm k-a-t-e and i have copd,

and president hamid karzai is the reason for that. to sign the bilateral security agreement which would ensure an enduring u.s. presence here with the withdrawal at the end of 2014. so, yes, hamid karzai, he has built a residence very close to the presidential palace. and from what everybody is saying certainly here in afghanistan, he does not want to give up power. he wants to influence whoever is the next president. he has to step down. he's done his two terms. and it is, you know, quite well known that he -- he does have his favorite, and he has certainly thrown his support behind one of the candidates, dr. razul. but whether he has that influence on him, whether he certainly has influence on the other candidates, the top candidates, is yet to be seen. but certainly these three presidential candidates have said they will all sign that bilateral security agreement to ensure that, you know, america stays here and make sure that this doesn't become a safe haven for terrorists once again, wolf. >> please be careful over there. anna, on

in afghanistan, heightened security as millions of people, including current president hamid karzai go to the polls. voting in the presidential election is underway, and the election marks the first democratic transition of power in the country's history. >> secretary of state secretary of state john kerry says it's time for reality check in the middle east peace process. israel has refused to free more palestine prisoners without an extension of the negotiation. palestine protesters calling for their release clashed with

now in 2004 in most people here in the camps did help had hamid karzai to win the presidency. but this time when the president turns over power to the new president, predominantly these are groups a majority in afghanistan, therefore they say will not be heard across the border. the pakistanis have stepped up border patrol, but at the refugee camps you see most people would be interested to see the outcome of the general election, but they do have mixed feelings. >> it was our wish to participate in the election and cast our vote for someone we would like to be our leader. however, we're deprived of our right. >> how can you call it a fair and free election when so many people cannot choose the head of state just because they're refugees. >> united nations secretary general ban ki-moon is warned of any violence of armed groups after troops from chad were accused of killing civilians. this is the latest in a series of violence and incidence that involved chadian troops in the c.a.r. >> it appears that they would come in to try to evacuate remaining chadian, possibly other musli

the expectation is that that was an issue for hamid karzai, and who have was finally elected in this process will be more open to signing the agreement and keeping american and n.a.t.o. forces there. >> we are hoping, and as the presidential candidates clearly announced during the campaigns, that one of the first things they will do, at least for the frontrunners to sign the bilateral security agreement. we hope they keep their promise. signing of the bsa does not only help in terms of planning for security, but also the bigger message it gives to the neighbouring countries, to those who would like to influence the situation, particularly to the women of afghanistan, the bigger message it gives is that afghanistan will not be abandoned by the international security. it will help the situation of every citizen in afghanistan, and the wolan that connected with international community presence. >> and do you think the election will end up helping or hurting women, because as we have seen over the past 10 years, hamid karzai is married to someone that used to be a practicing gynecologist

. >> kabul, afghanistan afghan president hamid karzai is currently refusing to sign a treaty that would leave a small nato force in the country. if nothing changes, all foreign soldiers will leave by the end of this year. in secret, karzai has been negotiating with the taliban, in order to avoid a full-blown civil war. since 2005, the taliban has clawed back territory. they now dominate large parts of the country. >> but approximately only one hour's drive from here, right over behind the mountain there, is logar. and in logar there's still a war going on. >> i wanted to see what the war looked like from the other side - in the charkh district of logar province - a region which has seen violent clashes in recent years. through trusted sources, we contacted the taliban there. i hoped it would offer a rare glimpse inside the insurgency. we were told we would get a phone call in a few days. >> "i'm on my way to see what the taliban are up against. i'm going to visit a training center for the afghan national army" >> while the afghan national army is around 200,000 strong, it's reported to

. >> kabul, afghanistan afghan president hamid karzai is currently refusing to sign a treaty that would leave a small nato force in the country. if nothing changes, all foreign soldiers will leave by the end of this year. in secret, karzai has been negotiating with the taliban, in order to avoid a full-blown civil war. since 2005, the taliban has clawed back territory. they now dominate large parts of the country. >> but approximately only one hour's drive from here, right over behind the mountain there, is logar. and in logar there's still a war going on. >> i wanted to see what the war looked like from the other side - in the charkh district of logar province - a region which has seen violent clashes in recent years. through trusted sources, we contacted the taliban there. i hoped it would offer a rare glimpse inside the insurgency. we were told we would get a phone call in a few days. >> "i'm on my way to see what the taliban are up against. i'm going to visit a training center for the afghan national army" >> while the afghan national army is around 200,000 strong, it's reported to

and abdullah abdullah, he was foreign minister and ran against hamid karzai, but lost in 2009.e met with jamie, a senior staff writer at al jazeera, and has years of experience covering afghanistan, and sara, with the international rescue committee. >> right now the big fear is that - look, there has been elections, military and afghan forces are drilling down. maybe it's time to wash our hands. but there are massive needs. the government has spent 1.6 trillion. 0.025% of that could provide life-saving needs for all of the people with urgent needs. looking at the moment of seeing the election we saw with 7 million people coming out to vote. nearly 16 prd. what are you struck by. >> we saw horrific moments of violence. what struck most people is it was less than a normal day in afghanistan. the turn out was high, but was high in certain places, where the taliban influence is strong, in the south-east. many did not go out to vote. in other parts of the country polling stations were closed. that speaks to people looking not just at the possibility of a democratic handover, but wha

in 2009 president hamid karzai was a candidate for reelection, and he was the one who appointed the independentlection commission. and they were the people who either committed the fraud or collaborated with those who committed with the fraud, massive fraud, a third of karzai's votes were bogus, but at that time there was an independent body, which could then investigate the fraud and that's one of the ways it was documented. this time, karzai has not only appointed the independent election commission. he has also appointed the electoral complaints commission. and it's not as many he is neutral in this race. he definitely doesn't want one of the front runners to win. and he has a preference for the former foreign minister. >> let's talk about the con tenders. this man polled second in the 2009 election, at another former former minister, and a form afghan finance minister. and you spoke to him today. what did he tell you about the run up to the election and whether he expects the election to come off successfully? >> he actually was very optimistic. he said there had been very large crowds; tha

president hamid karzai is urging people to defy the violence and make their vote count. >> you are watching al jazeera live from london. coming up. clashes in the west side fire tear gas at palestinians, protesting at the cancellation of a prisoner release. >> chad pulls peace-keeping troops out of central republic, after being accused of killing civilians. >> emergency talks from ukraine as it looks for alternatives to russian gas. >> a huge security operation is underway in afghanistan on the eve of historic presidential electio elections. two foreign journalists were shot by policeman as they travelled through host. one was killed, the other injured. president hamid karzai is urging afghanistans to turn out and vote despite the threat of violence. >> a last-minute rush to register to vote in the saturday election. these people are involved in a process ending in a democratic transfer of power in the 500 year history. despite threats, there's widespread enthusiasm to vote. these people have been queueing to register towards dawn. the pressure is on the election commission to stop the wide

. >> kabul, afghanistan afghan president hamid karzai is currently refusing to sign a treaty that would leave a small nato force in the country. if nothing changes, all foreign soldiers will leave by the end of this year. in secret, karzai has been negotiating with the taliban, in order to avoid a full-blown civil war. since 2005, the taliban has clawed back territory. they now dominate large parts of the country. >> but approximately only one hour's drive from here, right over behind the mountain there, is logar. and in logar there's still a war going on. >> i wanted to see what the war looked like from the other side - in the charkh district of logar province - a region which has seen violent clashes in recent years. through trusted sources, we contacted the taliban there. i hoped it would offer a rare glimpse inside the insurgency. we were told we would get a phone call in a few days. >> "i'm on my way to see what the taliban are up against. i'm going to visit a training center for the afghan national army" >> while the afghan national army is around 200,000 strong, it's reported to

three of the top candidates here in afghanistan are vying of a pool of eight to replace hamid karzai. the top three are considered the three main candidates. all three have vowed to improve the relationship with the west, particularly the united states. all three have said they would sign the bilateral security agreement that president karzai so far has refused to sign. if elected, they would sign that agreement. they said in the first days and weeks of their administration, that would set in motion the pentagon announcing probably somewhere in the force of about 10,000 to 15,000 americans here in afghanistan post 2014 to help train the afghan security forces. also to help with counterterrorism operations here in the country to battle the taliban and make sure al qaeda doesn't reappear. getting ahead of ourselves, we are expected to have some type of result in the next few days. maybe it could take as long as a week or so before the afghan election commission actually issues results. we saw positive things here in afghanistan. high turnout, much higher than in 2009. some 7 million afg

we report on different candidates vying to replace hamid karzai. >> afghans are determined to take parteven in kandahar. they have threatened to disrupt the process. they have not succeeded. this time, it's a big rally. minister.finance stronghold, he is emphasizing his tribal credentials. he is the man that can bring peace to an area that has seen some of the worst fighting. but why would the taliban want to talk? >> the forces are not threatened. and the kind of numbers that make them doubtful that they would ever leave. we have succeeded. we have brought about massive participation of the public in this election. the democratic process is gaining ground. >> we drive north for a rally to a candidate that will ease the best people are the men that fought its wars. scholar, one of the most notorious warlords. but in the past decade, he has been useful to the west. he is even talking about women's rights. >> how is the campaign going? thank you. >> he fought against the taliban and in this area and is still at the top of the hit list. >> the crowds have gathered here. symbolizes --that t

invasion and hamid karzai and the first peaceful power in the country ever. we have some preliminary results but i haven't seen them yet if they have come out. i don't see the numbers but it seems the two leading candidates are abdullah abdullah of pashtun origin that is perceived to be a politician from the north and who has a credential now about 44% and about 33%. this likely means that there will be a runoff in the second round because for someone to become the next president he has to have more than 50% of the vote. the political energy right now is by the imaginings between abdullah abdullah in order to avoid a runoff and by many this is a desirable outcome. i am quite skeptical and it would be quite extraordinary. for the second round in the 29th. i don't think that this is likely and perhaps it is a questionable decision to see it as a problematic outcome. one of them will be fascinated. and by opening red marks in the international community in washington and occupied both rounds several in the process of how it transfers to. it is a process that wil

underway ahead of sunday's presidential elections in which the country's president of 13 years, hamid karzai, won't be running. a research associate at the american enterprise inns juden d.c. explains that -- institute in d.c. explains that whoever wins will face a very daunting task. >> we are at a time that most foreign troops are set to exit afghanistan by years end. all of the security and government responsibility is to afghansferred security forces and the afghan government. the selection is a very major test for the afghan government because it will demonstrate how -- afghan government welfare will fare after the international community leaves. they are the ones who are in charge of security. >> gives us a sense of which of the candidates look best equipped to lead afghanistan. the country faces a fairly uncertain future. >> there are two candidates who are plausible to win the elections. it is difficult to tell from now who the winner will be. it is likely that any of the unlikely that any of the candidates will be the first winner. the election will go to a runoff and whoever wins t

as afghans prepare for this historic moment, choosing a leader to replace hamid karzai. >> the seven for the missing malaysian airliner deploys under water scanning equipment in a different part of the southern indian ocean in an effort to find the plane's flight recorder. fears that the ebola virus may have spread to another country in africa, mali. we chart the deadly path of this latest disease. >> aaron is here. aaron, a possible change right at the top for africa. >> i'll tell you what, watch out, south africa. nigeria is on the rise. nigeria releases its economic growth numbers. we've got a special report. >> hello and welcome to "gmt". it's midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 3:00 p.m. in afghanistan where nearly 400,000 military personnel are out in force across the country in the run-up to tomorrow's elections. security is a major issue. it is a significant period for afghanistan. it will be the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history. a new generation of young afghan's will be able to vote for the first time. elections will be followed by the fina

in the center there, that is a portrait of hamid karzai.ew in the art international "new york times." everyone is kind of freaking out about this, and it says people need to get a grip, especially those in the art world who dismiss the paintings without even seeing them. bush's a real review of unsettling talent. he is something of a natural when it comes to making oil paintings -- a decent amateur. >> things to you for watching "france 24." time for sports. league,e champions chelsea has a huge task in the course of finals. individual -- chelsea has hope and the pressure will increase with the ticking of a clock. off. 9:30 we can be at 7:45, we have chances to be in the semifinal. so we have to be at 7:45 with a smile on our faces, going to play, give everything. at 9:30. let's see what happens. will be without swedish star ibrahim of itch, who was emerged -- who was injured. on tuesday he will be looking to add his four goals. psg know what went on, and we need to learn our lessons. is the match going to be like the first 30 minutes of th

showing an image of hamid karzai on display outside the defence ministry in kabul. >> anya is one of more than a doze in journalists over the world who lost their lives on assignment this year, according to the commit yes to protect journalists. last year the dangerous company as syria. out of 70 journalists, 28 were working in syria. >> looking live at a polling station, kabul will be following the outcomes. remember, for the latest you can log on to al jazeera. >> a rejected request for military leave may have sparked the spree in fort hood texas. leopoldo lopez killed three, wounding 16 others. heidi zhou-castro is following the investigation from texas. >> fort command said it was an argument that was a precipitating action to the shooting, but his father said lopes got not have been in his right mind. lopes was shocked when his mother, a nurse died of a heart attack earlier. lopes grandfather passed away a month alert. fast-forward to january. he was travelled from el paso to fort hood. he moved into this apartment with his wife and daughter. >> she was smiling. he was smiling.