Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Thursday that a historic presidential election would be successfully held this weekend and reflect the people's wishes despite inevitable sabotage attempts by Taleban fighters.
US-backed Karzai is the favourite to win Saturday's poll, which should legitimise his rule and mark a turning point for a country shattered by more than a quarter-century of war.
He said in a BBC interview he was aware guns and intimidation would play a role in the election.
"How long can we wait for the guns to go before we have elections?" Karzai said. "No election in the world is free of tension. Afghanistan is in a more serious situation because we are emerging out of war.
"But because of the massive enthusiasm and will of the Afghan people to go toward this election and to build their country in a democratic way, I very much hope this election will provide a result that they will like."
Taliban threats to attack anyone taking part in the vote have not stopped more than 10.5 million Afghans of a population of about 28 million, from registering to directly elect their president for the first time.
Women make up more than 40 percent of those who have registered, organisers say. An additional 1.3 million refugees in Pakistan and Iran are also eligible to participate.
"Those who wish to participate, despite the warning, can do so, but it will not be our responsibility if something happens to them," Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said by telephone. The government said it was ready.
"There is no doubt that terrorists will try to disrupt the election process," said Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali.
Polls open at 7 am (0230 GMT) on Saturday in Afghanistan.
Polls for hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan will also open at 7 am, but time in Pakistan is half an hour ahead of that in their homeland, so the first vote will be cast at 0200 GMT.
The International Organisation for Migration, which is conducting the refugee vote, said it arranged for an Afghan woman to be the first to mark her ballot at a polling station in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, at exactly 7 am Pakistani time.