By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan October 12 congratulated the Afghan people on the conduct of their first presidential election.

In a presidential statement read during a public meeting, the Security Council stressed the election's "historic importance as a milestone in the political process" and congratulated the millions of Afghan voters, many of them women and refugees, "who showed their commitment to democracy by participating in the first popular election of their head of state."

"The Security Council pledges its continued support for the government and people of a sovereign Afghanistan as they rebuild their country, strengthen the foundations of constitutional democracy, and assume their rightful place in the community of nations, and calls upon the international community, with the U.N. in a central role, to support them in these efforts," the 15-nation council said in a statement read by its president, Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom.

In a statement released by his spokesman, the secretary-general said the election "presented the Afghans with a historic opportunity towards the establishment of a stable and democratic state for which they have worked so hard and deserve."

"That this election was held without a major security incident is a tribute to the determination of the Afghan population," the secretary-general said.

Annan urged the presidential candidates and their supporters to continue to work through lawful measures to resolve the charges of irregularities raised during the voting on October 9.

In a briefing to the Security Council, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi said "the impressive participation, the enthusiasm and pride of the women and men voting for the first time, the peaceful and orderly environment in which the electoral operation unfolded have made it a special event that augers well for the journey of the Afghans towards a vigorous democracy."

Even though the results will not be known for some time, the assistant secretary-general said, "the popular verdict on the process itself is overwhelmingly positive" despite some problems with the ballot ink, allegations of intimidation, and other irregularities.

Initial estimates indicate a high turnout despite poor weather conditions and a call by opposition candidates for a boycott, Annabi said.

Security conditions on election day, he said, "greatly exceeded our expectations."

Some incidents did occur including rockets fired at or near polling centers in the south and east; polling station workers assaulted by voters attempting to vote multiple times in the Central Highlands; and the destruction of a bridge linking one community to a village center by insurgents attempting to prevent people from going to the center to vote in Uruzgan province. There were also several reports of intimidation, though none seemed to have greatly affected the voting, Annabi said.

The assistant secretary-general said that cooperation between the electoral commission and the national and international security forces was remarkable. Intelligence from various sources was pooled and shared, enabling the approximately 120,000 Afghan, coalition, and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel to respond to threats as necessary.

"We are very grateful to ISAF and the coalition in particular for the added forces that they sent," Annabi said. "These forces provided confidence to Afghan voters and surely deterred a number of incidents."

"We believe that we need to build on this success and that these forces should remain in Afghanistan until the parliamentary elections scheduled next spring are over," he said.

The 5,321 domestic and 121 international observers were an important element in enhancing the credibility of the election, as were the 22,000 party agents and 52,000 other accredited agents, Annabi said.

The only serious problem was the handling of indelible ink, he noted. Polling stations were supplied with one of two products with which to ink voters' left thumbs. Both products worked well, but the pens intended for marking ballot papers and the implements for marking the voters' thumbs could be confused, he said. Polling officials did confuse the products on many occasions, Annabi explained. However, the problem was identified and resolved within the first hours of polling and complaints ceased by early afternoon, he said.

Voting in Iran and Pakistan by Afghan refugees also was orderly and secure, the assistant secretary-general said. Initial estimates are that some 540,000 Afghans voted in 1,657 polling stations in Pakistan, representing about 75 percent of refugees. In Iran, an estimated 260,000 voted in 1,126 polling states, about 50 percent of estimated eligible voters.

The vote was organized in only 78 days, "a feat for which the International Organization of Migration and particularly its teams in Pakistan and Iran, deserve significant praise for this achievement," he said.

"With about 800,000 Afghans voting outside of Afghanistan, the out-of-country exercise represented the largest ever refugee vote," he said.

Ballot boxes are now being transported to counting centers in the eight main population centers. Most have arrived, Annabi said, despite some attacks on convoys, including one that killed three Afghan policemen in Uruzgan.

The rest of the process is expected to take two to three weeks. The first step is the reconciliation of vote in which the number of ballots in each box is checked against the number of people who appeared at the polling station and the number of ballots used at that station. Once the reconciliation is complete, the ballots will be counted in the presence of observers and party agents.