AFGHANISTAN - Sep 27 - Warlords' Power Has Been Checked.

The US envoy to Kabul Zalmay Khalilzad, says the government has broken the back of the country's abusive provincial strongmen but concedes they will still influence voters in next week's Presidential election. However, he denied he had been putting pressure on candidates against Hamid Karzai, to withdraw. He said he had met one of Karzai's most prominent rivals Yunus Qanooni, eight weeks ago but not since, contradicting Qanooni's assertions that they had met more recently. Khalilzad's comments come s as a human rights group warned that widespread intimidation would prevent many Afghans voting freely on Oct 9 and called upon the US to sever all financial and political support to "warlords". In a pessimistic report on political freedom in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said local militia commanders would exploit voters' fear and lack of understanding of the electoral process and coerce them into voting for their chosen candidate. "Militarised political factions... [are] using force, threats and corruption to stifle more legitimate political activity and dominate the election process", the report said. Khalilzad pointed to recent government moves, including the decision to replace Ismail Khan, the despotic governor of Herat province, as "significant progress" towards curbing provincial commanders' power. Khan fought alongside US forces against the Taliban but was the subject of a damning HRW report last year. "While we're making progress in breaking their back...the job is not finished", Khalilzad told reporters during a monthly press briefing. HRW praised moves by Karzai to corral the so-called warlords, but said the US should bolster those efforts by ending marriages of convenience with provincial commanders. Khalilzad has been involved in negotiations to remove several powerful militia commanders, but HRW maintains that the US military continues to work with provincial militia in its war on Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants.