Exiled Uzbek leader General Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose supporters could swing this week's presidential election, returned to Afghanistan on Sunday after being given a government all-clear. Dostum's supporters, who gave him 10 percent of the vote in the 2004 election, had threatened to withdraw their backing for President Hamid Karzai on August 20 unless the former communist general was allowed to return.
Surveys show Karzai in the lead but not by enough to avoid a run-off against his strongest challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Campaigning ends at midnight on Monday, three days before Thursday's vote. Supporters of the main candidates came out in their thousands on Sunday in a last burst of campaign excitement. For Western countries who now have more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, the result of the vote may be less important than ensuring it takes place at all. Taliban fighters, stronger than ever since they were driven from power eight years ago, have said they will disrupt the poll.
The vote is a test for US President Barack Obama, who has declared Afghanistan his administration's main foreign focus. More than 30,000 extra US troops have arrived in Afghanistan this year as part of an escalation strategy.