Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is wanted by Washington for terrorism, has urged Afghans to boycott next month's presidential election in protest at their "puppet government", a report said Monday.
"Afghans should not take part in the so-called polls under the cover of US B-52 jets," the Pakistan-based private Afghan Islamic Press quoted Hekmatyar as saying in a statement.
"Afghans should tell the world that they want independence and do not accept the puppet government of foreigners," said the statement written in the Pashtu and Dari languages.
The authenticity of the statement, which was circulating in Afghan refugee camps on the outskirts of the Pakistani city of Peshawar, could not immediately be verified.
"Afghan elections are in fact part of (US President George W.) Bush's election campaign," Hekmatyar was quoted as saying.
"Taking part in these elections is like giving votes to Bush, Putin and Blair," he said in a reference to British premier Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, key US allies in war against terrorism.
Afghanistan's presidential polls on October 9 will be contested by 18 candidates including President Hamid Karzai.
The 8,000-strong ISAF multinational force is in Kabul and some northern provinces helping with security. More than 18,500 US-led soldiers are hunting militants in the south and south-east.
Hekmatyar, who heads the fundamentalist Hezb-i-Islami guerrilla faction, has been declared a wanted terrorist by the US for his attempts to destabilise Karzai's US-backed government.
Hekmatyar is a former prime minister and was a leading mujahideen warlord during the war against the Soviet Union.
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