Rumsfeld in Afghanistan ahead of polls

Rumsfeld travelled to the Afghan capital from Oman where he warned that the drug trade from massive opium poppy crops was hampering US efforts to foster democracy in the war-torn central Asian state.

Shortly after landing in Kabul he flew to the main eastern city Jalalabad to meet a US military-run team of soldiers and civilians helping to provide security and with reconstruction projects. Jalalabad lies in the center of one of Afghanistan's biggest poppy farming regions.

Rumsfeld met the US commander of the team, known as a Provincial Reconstruction Team, before meeting local dignitaries.

Back in Kabul he was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is running for re-election on October 9 against 17 other candidates, and Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim.