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The Signpost reserves the right to refuse advertising. 8 3 9 1 2 7 5 4 6 2 6 7 4 3 5 8 1 9 5V 9 6 8 7 3 2 1 7 3 6 4 2 9 5 8 9 2 5 3 8 1 4 6 7 4 8 6 7 5 9 3 2 1 6 5 8 2 7 4 1 9 3 3 9 4 8 1 6 2 7 5 7 1 2 5 Q 3 6 8 4 •4 World Headlines Afghans vote for new parliament despite militant attacks but turnout appears low KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Despite Taliban rocket strikes and bombings, Afghans voted for a new parliament Saturday, the first election since a fraud-marred presidential ballot last year cast doubt on the legitimacy of the embattled government. As officials tally votes over the next few days, the real test begins: Afghans will have to decide whether to accept the results as legitimate despite a modest turnout and early evidence of fraud. The 'Taliban had pledged to disrupt the vote and launched attacks starting with a rocket fired into the capital before dawn. The insurgent group followed with a series of morning rocket strikes that hit major cities just as people were going to the polls — or.weighing whether to risk it. At least 11 civilians and three police officers were killed, accoring to the Interior Ministry. The governor of Kandahar province survived a bombing as he drove between voting . sites. In all, there were 33 bomb explosions and 63 rocket attacks, said Interior Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi. • He said 27 Taliban were killed Saturday. Yet there appeared tp be less violence than during the last election, when more than 30 civilians were killed and a group of insurgents attacked Kabul. Afghan security officials dismissed the attacks Saturday as "insignificant" and said they did not hamper voting, adding that 92 percent of polling stations were open. Pope meets with sex abuse victims, expresses shame as thousands march in protest in London LONDON (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday to five people who were molested by priests as children in his latest effort to defuse the sex abuse crisis shaking his church, as thousands of people angered at the Vatican's response marched in central London in the biggest protest of his 5-year papacy. Benedict met for about 30-40 minutes with the victims — four women and a man from Scotland, England and Wales — at the Vatican's ambassador's residence in Wimbledon and expressed "his deep sorrow and shame over what the victims and their families suffered," according to the Vatican. "He prayed with them and assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people, and that it is doing all in its power to investigate allegations, to collaborate with civil authorities and to bring to justice clergy and religious accused of these egregious crimes," it said. Rockets disrupt Afghan election By Mirwais Khan writer I Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A loud explosion 20 minutes before the polls opened set the tone for election day in this Taliban stronghold, where a series of rocket attacks and bombings dampened turnout despite a heavy presence of security forces. One bomb attack narrowly missed the Kandahar provincial governor's convoy as he traveled between polling stations to observe Saturday's parliamentary vote. International troops and Afghan forces have been ramping security in this key southern region — the birthplace of the Taliban movement — in an attempt to keep insurgents from staging attacks and turn the tide of the nine-year war. Those who ventured out to vote did so slowly at first, a few members of one family at a time. Later, groups of voters left their homes and headed to polling stations. But when the polls closed, it was clear that turnout had been lower than during last year's presidential election. Voters' sentiments ranged from defiance- and pride in exercising their democratic right, to deep skepticism about the political process. Bibi Zarghona, said she was excited to cast a ballot • for her own candidate. "I'm happy mat we have female candidates who can deliver our own message," she said. "If we sit in our homes scared, this thing, this terror will never come to an end. We have to face some difficulties to have a better and secure future." Malalia Bibi said she didn't believe in the election and only voted because her husband asked her to. She said she became disillusioned by the democratic process after the candidate she voted for in the nation's first parliamentary election didn't help people with their problems. The lawmaker was rarely in Kandahar and very difficult to reach, she said. "I don't have any expectations for this election," Bibi said. At a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak boasted of the security gains since last year's ballot. "Why the participation was low? Nobody can be sure definitively, but it might be as a result of the enemy's negative campaign to terrorize the people not to participate because they were claiming that they would be able to create much more damage than what they were actually physically able to inflict," he said. Altogether, insurgents launched about a dozen attacks on the city. No one died but about a half-dozen people were injured, according to hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they said the government instructed them not to disclose information about election-related violence. One rocket damaged the wall of a police station. Another fell near a market, but a tree took the brunt of the blast. Throughout the • day, law enforcement, intelligence and government officials monitored areas in the province via satellite television hookups from the compound of Kandahar provincial Gov. luryalai Wesa. Security wastight;the city looked like it was under curfew. In July, hundreds of Afghanistan's most elite police unit arrived in Kandahar to help staff new checkpoints — one of thefirstvisible signs of NATO's attempt with Afghan forces to bolster security in the largest southern city. The Afghan National Civil Order Police, partnered with international forces, are manning new checkpoints around the clock, forming a security perimeter around the city. On election day, vehicles without special election passes were banned from the streets. Wesa, who had high hopes for greater turnout, appealed to voters to go to the polls despite threats. "There's nothing to be afraid of," Wesa said. "The enemy wants the election to fail so if you want the insurgents out of your land, you'll have to come out and vote." A few hours later, one bomb exploded about the same time that his convoy was moving into a southern district and another bomb nearly missed his vehicle as he was moving between polling centers. "Thanhs to God, we have no casualties," Wesa said later. Voting stations were busier in Zhari district, an area just outside Kandahar where Taliban leader Mullah Omar's radical Islamic movement was born, because the strong troop presence assured voters it 4was safe to go to the polls. "People are fed up with the Taliban. That's why they're coming out more and more so they can get rid of the Taliban," said Saleh Naeem, a businessman. "Because of the Taliban, business is in a bad condition in Zhari." In Panjwai district to the west of Kandahar, people voted in town, but Taliban threats kept people in outlying areas at home. In Dand district, just south of Kandahar, residents exhibited little fear about going to vote. "I cast my vote and now I'm back to doing my business," said shopkeeper Mohammad Shoaib. "I don't know about the other people, but I was personally satisfied with the voting in our district." The ballot, however, was far from perfect. Matiullah, a Kandahar man who uses only one name, said hundreds of people in his village of about 600 gave their voting cards to the village elder who was supposed to vote for them. * "My father asked me to give the^card," he said. "This is what we did the last time. \ |