Izbirkom Afghanistan rejected the appeal of President Hamid Karzai to hold presidential elections in April and appointed them to August 20.

As the head of vote, to hold the elections before is not possible.

Presidential elections were held in May but was postponed to August because of security concerns and organizational problems. Last weekend, President Karzai urged not to delay the vote.

Representatives of the UN mission in Afghanistan, welcomed the final decision of the electoral commission.

President Karzai on Saturday, had asked to postpone the elections in April, so as not to violate the constitution.

Under Article 61 of the current constitution, elections must be held for 30-60 days until 22 May when the five-year term in office expires on Karzai.

Political opponents of the Afghan president, as well as U.S., NATO and the UN's opposition to attempts to bring the election date.

Enhanced Security

“We respect and accept the presidential decree, however, to put it into practice is not possible because of all the problems that we mentioned earlier. For the elections should be, primarily, to ensure safety and wait for favorable weather conditions “- the words of the head leads the Government appointed an independent electoral commission Azizully Ludina Agence France Presse.

” Therefore, aftercareful consideration of this matter, the commission concluded that we should hold transparent, free and fair elections . That is why we have confirmed the election date – 20 August “, – he said.

UN welcomed the decision.

” This will give time izbirkomu with the support of the international community to undertake the necessary training, the candidates – to organize the campaign, while Afghan and international forces – to ensure security “, – said in the statement of the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Kai Eide.

Other international observers also pointed out that for the same reasons it is very difficult to hold fair elections until April.

U.S. and other members of the international community endorsed the recommendation of the Afghan vote to hold elections in August, since the international forces, which are expected to be available to strengthen the peacekeeping mission, could be used to guard polling stations, the report says.

Izbirkom in January, has already once postponed the holding of elections.

As the head of the electoral commission, the current date them – August 20 – was chosen after consultation with representatives of Afghan and international security services.

“They told us that reinforcements will arrive here officials who will ensure security “, – said Azizulla Ludin.

Taliban militia, which was ousted in 2001 by the US-led international military operation, continue to carry out attacks and suicide bombings in the country shares.