Afghan presidential elections to be held in October

Afghanistan's presidential elections will be held on Oct. 9, head of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) Zakim Shah announced Friday evening.

"Presidential election will be held on October 9 and the parliamentary election will be held in the Afghan month of Saur," Zakim Shah told the nation via television.

He did not give the exact date for the parliamentary election, but the month of Saur begins on April 21 and ends on May 20.

"The consensus over the new date for election has reached after consultation with the political parties," Zakim Shah added.

It was the second time that Afghanistan's first ever post-Taliban general elections have been delayed. Earlier it was put off from June to September mainly due to security concerns.

Over 6 million people out of the 10.5 million eligible in Afghanistan have registered to vote for the poll.

Taliban's fugitive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar whose regime wascollapsed under a US-led military campaign in late 2001 has vowed to disrupt the election process.