The United States is proud to support the Afghan people to conduct their presidential election, and will remain impartial in the election, said US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the media during a visit to the Foreign Minister's Residence in Abuja August 12, 2009.[Xinhua]

"The Afghan people should be commended for their courage in conducting this election despite the stresses of wartime, and we and the international community are proud to support them," said the secretary in a statement.

Forty-one candidates, including the incumbent Hamid Karzai, will race for the presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Thursday.

Among the 41 candidates, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former financial minister Ashraf Ghani are main rivals of President Karzai, who won the 2004 presidential election with 55 percent of the vote.

"We do not support or oppose any particular candidate," said Clinton, adding that "like the Afghan people we want to see credible, secure and inclusive elections that all will judge legitimate."

Seventeen million people are eligible to go to about 7,000 polling stations across the country for voting their president, who is elected for a five-year tenure and could serve a maximum of two terms.

The vote's counting could take about three weeks and the final result is expected to be announced on September 17. Candidate who can fix the victory must get more than 50 percent of the vote.

"We hope that, from top to bottom, every effort will be taken to make election day secure, to eliminate fraud, and to address any complaints fairly and quickly," Clinton said, adding that all candidates and their supporters should "behave responsibly before and after the elections."

"We look forward to working with whomever the Afghan people select as their leaders for the next five years," said the secretary.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2009)