KABUL, October 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Vote counting in Afghanistan's troubled election was still on hold Tuesday, October 12, as opposition candidates backing down from boycott threats awaited an international inquiry into charges of fraud and irregularities.

Analysts, meanwhile, saw the fate of the election and hopes of preventing factional violence lying with Yunus Qanooni, the favored candidate of a powerful anti-Taliban alliance of northerners, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“It is important for Qanooni particularly (to accept the result) as it will provide a legitimacy for the outcome of the election, which might otherwise be questioned,” Vikram Parekh, senior Afghan affairs analyst for the International Crisis group, told AFP.

“Qanooni is considered to be one of the few main and important candidates, so his stance on the result is important,” said Nasrullah Staniczai, professor of political science at Kabul University.

Several other candidates among a group of 14 who declared in the middle of voting that they would boycott the results have adopted a similar stance.

The dispute tainted an otherwise jubilant day, according to media outlets, as millions of Afghan men and women flocked to polling stations for their first-ever say in choosing their country's leader, defying threats of violence by the Taliban militia who were ousted three years ago.

The joint UN-Afghan electoral commission announced Monday the UN would set up an independent panel to investigate the charges of irregularities.

The panel will include a former Canadian diplomat and a Swedish electoral expert, and a third member yet to be identified, election commission vice-chairman Ray Kennedy said.

Vote counting, meanwhile, had been put on hold in case there was any need to deal with a specific ballot box, Kennedy said.

Qanooni is also pushing for some polling stations to be reopened. He has charged that in areas where he has wide support the stations opened late and closed early.

Qanooni, who refused to vote Saturday in protest, said he would cast his ballot if polling stations were reopened.

Kennedy said if candidates who boycotted the election Saturday wanted to cast their votes, their demands would be considered.

All presidential candidates have been asked to submit their detailed complaints by 6:00 pm (1330 GMT) Tuesday.

One of the main complaints was that ink meant to stain voters' fingers to prevent multiple voting was easily rubbed off.

The opposition candidates include powerful regional and ethnic leaders -- some of whom have large private militias -- and UN and Western diplomats were working hard to ensure they all accept the result.

Vickram Parekh, senior Afghan analyst for the International Crisis Group, told AFP that it was important for Qanooni and the other candidates to accept the result to provide legitimacy for the future government.

If they did not, there would be a danger of military commanders refusing to continue the crucial disarming of their private militias, and failing to recognize appointments by central government, he said.

Karzai has said there would be “no horse trading” if he wins the election, but it was widely expected that Qanooni would be offered a senior position if he accepted the outcome.

On the ground, four rockets hit the Afghan capital Kabul overnight, killing a man and injuring a child, signaling that the election has not put an end to violence in this war-weary country.

A regional commander for militants of the ousted Taliban regime, Abdul Samad, telephoned AFP during the night to claim responsibility for the attack.

The Islamist regime, driven from power three years ago by a US-led invasion, had pledged to disrupt the election, but apart from scattered attacks the voting day passed relatively peacefully.

Western leaders have hailed the vote.