Eight Afghan presidential hopefuls dropped from contenders' list

The election panel overseeing the Afghanistan presidential poll has removed eight potential runners from the contenders' list, bringing down the total strength of the candidates in the race to 19, an official source said Sunday .

The candidates whose names have been dropped are Zalmai Rasoul, Abdul Rahim Wardak, Hamidullah Qadiri, Sarwar Ahmadzai, Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, Noor Rahman Lewal, Nadir Shah Ahmadzai and Dawar Ahmad Nadi, Pajhwok Afghan News reported citing a source in the Independent Election Commission (IEC).

The scrutiny process is underway and 11 more contenders could be removed from the list, the source added.

Without offering minute details, an IEC commissioner wishing not to be named said the body prompted to remove the hopefuls because "most of them have problems in their documents".

Earlier, the IEC removed Dil Agha Kohdamani -- a presidential hopeful -- in the first process following his failure to measure up on the established rules of the election body.

As many as 27 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the presidential election.

The IEC was scheduled to announce the list of the nominees Saturday but technical problems caused delay to finalise the list. The final list of the candidates would be announced Nov 16. The country goes to poll next year.