Abdullah votes in Afghan poll

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Afghan presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah votes in the final round in Afghanistan's election that began at 7 a.m. (0230 GMT) on Saturday (June 14).

Up to 12 million voters are eligible to vote in the poll to pick a successor to President Hamid Karzai who has been in power since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban in 2001.

The vote pits former anti-Taliban fighter Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani after neither secured the 50 percent majority needed to win outright in the first round on April 5.

The winner will inherit an unfinished war and an economy in the doldrums.

The Taliban are still strong and Afghanistan's foreign-trained army has never put to rest questions about its effectiveness, especially in the absence of foreign troops, the bulk of whom will leave by the end of the year.

The first round of polling won praise a