AFGHANISTAN VOTING One candidate backs off boycott

The turnout was called 'a victory of the Afghan people over terrorism.'
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The main opposition candidate in Afghanistan's first presidential election backed off a boycott of the vote today, saying he would accept the formation of an independent commission to look into possible cheating.
Ethnic Tajik candidate Yunus Qanooni, considered the likely runner-up to interim President Hamid Karzai, made the announcement at his Kabul home, a day after two other candidates also peeled away from the boycott.
He said he had made his decision after a meeting with U.N. representative Jean Arnault and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
"I don't want to be against the election and I appreciate the good will of the people of Afghanistan," Qanooni said. "I want to prove to the people of Afghanistan that the national interest is my highest interest."
Election organizers hope their decision, announced late Sunday, to establish a panel of about three foreign election experts to investigate the balloting will end the boycott, which many fear could seriously undermine the winner's ability to rule this war-ravaged nation.
Supporting team
A senior Western official who met with some of the 15 candidates said many had decided to back down and support the investigative team.
"Some of the candidates say they made that statement [the boycott] in too much of a rush," the official said on condition of anonymity. "They are now looking for a way out that allows them to save face."
Election observers, the U.S. Embassy and Karzai have all sought to put the best face possible on Saturday's vote, noting that Taliban rebels were mostly silent and that turnout was high in a nation that has never before tasted democracy.
"The numbers and enthusiasm both were very, very great. It was unbelievable. A day of celebration, really, for the Afghan people," Karzai said today on NBC's "Today" show. "People braved attacks by terrorists and went to the election. ... This is really a victory of the Afghan people over terrorism."
An exit poll conducted by an American nonprofit group found that Karzai won Saturday's first presidential election with the outright majority needed to avoid a second round.
The survey by the International Republican Institute, which seeks to promote democracy abroad, found Karzai ahead of second-place finisher Yunus Qanooni by 43 percentage points.
The group would not give specific vote totals for either man, nor did it release supporting data. But it said that Karzai was well over the 50-percent mark necessary to avoid a runoff.
The survey was financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Karzai said that the election should be a slap in the face to Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida followers.
"This election ... is a strong reminder to him that people don't want them, that the people want a different life. So he should be much more afraid today than he was the day before yesterday or before that. He must be trying to hide even in a tighter place than he was a few days ago. We will find him one day, sooner or later," Karzai said.
Boxes of ballots, some arriving by mule, were not expected to finish reaching counting centers until at least Tuesday.