DHAKA: The man said to be responsible for bringing Al-Qaeda to Afghanistan announced he was running for president on Thursday, a move likely to be greeted with apprehension by the international community.

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai is barred from running by the constitution, and the new government is seen as an opportunity to push the country away from years of damaging allegations of corruption and maladministration.

‘Today I nominate myself in order to serve my countrymen and my nation, I want to stand alongside the true servants of Afghanistan,’ Abdul Rassoul Sayyaf told media minutes before he registered at the offices of Kabul’s Independent Election Commission, reports The Straits Times.

Next year, millions of Afghans will vote in what is being hailed as the most important election since the United States-led war against the Afghan Taliban began 12 years ago.

BDST: 1910HRS, OCT 03, 2013
RoR/RIS