UN, Dec 05: The registration of voters has begun in seven regional capitals across Afghanistan ahead of the country's national elections next year. United Nations chief spokesman Fred Eckhard told newsmen yesterday that initial reports from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) indicate just over 10,000 people have registered since the process began earlier this week, with about a third of those in Bamiyan. The six other cities conducting voter registration, mostly at schools, are the capital Kabul, as well as Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif. Every Afghan citizen aged 18 or older by 20 June next year is eligible to register, but registration must be done in person. Elections for Afghanistan's national parliament and for the presidency are expected to be held next year.

Eckhard said Afghanistan's constitutional Loya Jirga (representative assembly) would begin next week in Kabul, when delegates from around the country convene to discuss the shape of the constitution. Last month a draft constitution was unveiled. Bureau Report