<p>Karzai voted about half an hour after polls opened, casting his ballot in a boys' high school near his heavily fortified palace, and afterwards urging Afghans to also go to the polls.|<br /></p>.<p><br />"I request my dear countrymen to come out and cast their vote to decide their future," he said.</p>.<p><br />Voting alongside him were several key officials, including Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.</p>.<p>Karzai has ruled Afghanistan since the extremist Taliban regime was removed from power in a US-led invasion.</p>
<p>Karzai voted about half an hour after polls opened, casting his ballot in a boys' high school near his heavily fortified palace, and afterwards urging Afghans to also go to the polls.|<br /></p>.<p><br />"I request my dear countrymen to come out and cast their vote to decide their future," he said.</p>.<p><br />Voting alongside him were several key officials, including Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.</p>.<p>Karzai has ruled Afghanistan since the extremist Taliban regime was removed from power in a US-led invasion.</p>