Fear of attack by Taliban-led rebels kept many candidates off the streets today as Afghanistan kicked off the official campaign period for landmark September 18 legislative elections, the war-torn country’s next step toward democracy.

Hamid Karzai’s victory in Afghanistan’s first presidential election could be sealed within days, a top election adviser said today – unless investigators uncover major fraud.

A suspected bomb blast killed an election worker and four other civilians in south-eastern Afghanistan today.

Early results today put interim leader Hamid Karzai far ahead of his chief rivals in Afghanistan’s landmark presidential election as the vote count was suspended for the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.