KABUL, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Afghan electoral body announced here Sunday that the country's first ever parliamentary elections will be held on Sept. 18.

    "The Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of the parliament) and provincial council elections will be held on Sept. 18," Bismillah Bismil, chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said at a press conference here.

    "In view of the technical obstacles to holding District Councilelections this year, the date for those elections will be established once the elected Wolesi Jirga has resolved the outstanding issue relating to the formation, recognition, and boundaries of districts," he added.

    The JEMB has consulting with the political parties and government authorities, he said. "There were conflicting views among those we consulted."

    The JEMB"s announcement came three days after President Hamid Karzai said the parliamentary election will be postponed to September.

    "The JEMB is an independent body... we respect what ever decision it has made," said Karzai on Thursday at a joint news conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

    The JEMB ascribed the delay of the parliamentary poll to technical reasons.

    However, some major Afghan political parties accused that the delay would benefit Karzai and his alliance.

    The parliamentary elections, which were originally scheduled for 2004 alongside Afghanistan's first presidential election, include the competition in the provincial councils and lower houseof the parliament, of which a specified number of seats will be reserved for woman representatives. Enditem