Karim Khalili told about 2,000 people at a Shiite mosque that the Oct. 9 election was a major step toward bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, but he gave no specifics on what President Hamid Karzai would do with five more years in power.

''All Afghan people should participate in the election. If they don't, I'm sure those who favor war and all the problems of the past will prevail,'' said Khalili.

Khalili did not mention Karzai's name, saying he hoped all Afghans vote for the candidate they prefer.

In Pakistan, thousands of Afghan refugees signed up at the start of a voter registration campaign in camps and cities.

But security threats and strict Pashtun tribal mores inhibited many women from taking part, casting doubt over trying to register some 800,000 out-of-country voters in Pakistan in just three days.

Millions of Afghans who fled fighting and drought are still living in Pakistan and Iran. Up to 600,000 refugees in Iran can vote but don't need to register, as the government already has an official roster of Afghan refugees.

Friday's campaign rally in Kabul was one of the few held in Afghanistan ahead of the vote.

Karzai, the overwhelming favorite to beat 17 rivals, has rarely ventured out in public since formal campaigning began last month. He escaped a Sept. 16 attack on a U.S. military helicopter taking him to a school-opening in the eastern city of Gardez.

Khalili told the crowd the election would send a message to the world that ''Afghans want peace, security and stability in their country.''

''We Afghan people have been at war for more than 20 years. We have reached the day where we will have an election in our country,'' he said.

About 400 supporters of a rival Shiite Muslim candidate, Mohammed Mohaqeq, gathered outside the mosque, waving banners for Mohaqeq and shouting it was time for Karzai to go.

''We don't want Karzai to be in power forever,'' said Hafiz Ahmad, 22. ''There should be an opportunity for other people. ''

Another man, Ahmed Zia, said he would vote for Karzai, who is a member of Afghanistan's Pashtun majority.

''Even though I am a Hazara like Mohaqeq, I plan to vote for Karzai,'' Zia said. I don't think we should vote based just on ethnicity.''

In Pakistan, election preparations were delayed because of lengthy negotiations with the United Nations and Afghanistan - leaving little time for organizers to persuade tribal communities to allow women to participate.

At the largest refugee camp, the sprawling Jalozai settlement that houses 115,000 Afghans near Peshawar, an Islamic cleric had apparently dissuaded many women from registering, residents said.

Hazrat Gul, a resident of Azakhel camp, complained about the organization of the campaign.

''We have offered to registration staff that if they want to register women they should send female staff to our houses because it's against our tradition to send our women outside our houses,'' he said.