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Germany says Afghan polls turn out better than expected

Other News Materials 18 September 2010 22:20 (UTC +04:00)
Afghanistan's election proceeded better than many people expected and demonstrated Afghan voters' courage, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday in a first response, dpa reported.
Germany says Afghan polls turn out better than expected

Afghanistan's election proceeded better than many people expected and demonstrated Afghan voters' courage, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday in a first response, dpa reported.

"I can only praise with the most complete respect this courage, given the very difficult circumstances of the poll," he said in the western city of Bonn, while adding that it was still too early for a detailed assessment.

The minister condemned election-day violence, but said data on attacks had still not been rounded up as he spoke.

"We know there were bombings, people wounded and probably people being killed," he said, but added that the information reaching him gave him the impression "that these polls were carried out better than many people feared they would be."

Westerwelle added that democratic elections were also an important step for the western nations planning to hand over complete responsibility to Afghan government forces in 2014.

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