KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's successful election "spells the end" of the rule of the gun in the war-battered country, the top U.S. commander here said today, although he added that American troops would remain for the foreseeable future.

Election workers were preparing to start counting the votes from Saturday's first-ever direct presidential vote, which drew an enthusiastic turnout and no serious violence from Taliban militants.

"This turning point spells the end of more than two decades of the rule of the gun in this nation and confirms the bright hope of all the Afghan people in a democratic future centered on the rule of law," Lt. Gen. David Barno told reporters.

The upbeat assessment came as NATO defense ministers met in Romania to consider issues including merging U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan with the alliance's separate contingent.

Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said on Tuesday that the United States is pressing the alliance to take over the U.S.-led military mission in Afghanistan, possibly as early as 2005.

Barno, who commands 18,000 mainly U.S. troops here, said the timeline for such a merger was "uncertain," but forecast that U.S. forces would play a "very, very large role and have a large percentage" of any combined force.

NATO is already expected to extend its Afghan operation from the capital and the north to the west next year.

But with much of the country still in the grip of warlords, and about 1,000 people killed in political violence so far this year, alliance leaders have struggled to persuade member nations to commit extra troops.

Barno wouldn't say when the number of U.S.-led troops might drop.

Combat operations would need to continue against remnants of the Taliban and other anti-government forces, he said, warning of a possible "spike" in violence during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

"Coalition forces for the foreseeable future will certainly maintain their role here," he said.

Counting of the votes from the election has been held up by complaints from President Hamid Karzai's 15 rivals ranging from multiple and underage voting to ballot stuffing.

U.N. officials concede that irregularities occurred during voting but said they were fixed hours before polls closed.

A panel of foreign experts has begun work to investigate claims that indelible ink used to mark voters' thumbs in some polling stations could be rubbed off, allowing some people to vote more than once.

With the three-member panel established, several of the candidates have backed away from a threatened boycott, putting the chances for a conclusive outcome on firmer ground.

Still, the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan, a group which fielded observers across the country, criticized a Tuesday evening deadline for complaints.

In a statement today, the group said it witnessed "many violations" but that it would take time to obtain full information from the country's remotest areas.

Final results are not expected until late October.

In another glitch, a U.N. helicopter sent to collect ballot boxes from northeastern Afghanistan was brought down Tuesday by engine failure. Nobody was injured when it crash-landed into snow in the Pamir mountains of Badakhshan province, but eight people were stranded, taking shelter in an abandoned house.

A U.N. helicopter departed Kabul today to attempt a rescue.

The helicopter had yet to pick up any ballot boxes, but the accident slowed the recovery of ballots from Badakhshan, one of Afghanistan's most inaccessible provinces.

Donkeys have also been used to bring ballot boxes from some remote villages.

A senior U.N. official said Tuesday that the indelible ink problem arose because of confusion about pens and ink sponge containers.

"Polling stations were supplied with one of two products with which to ink voters' left thumbs - voter ink pens or ink sponge containers," Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi told the U.N. Security Council in New York. "Both products appear to have functioned satisfactorily when used properly."

But polling officials "on many occasions" confused the ink pens with pens intended for marking ballot papers, and the sponge containers with ink bottles used with stamp pads, he said.

Karzai is the clear favorite to emerge as the country's first popularly elected head of state, but his ability to consolidate his rule could be undermined if his rivals refuse to acknowledge the results.

Ethnic Tajik candidate Yunus Qanooni, considered Karzai's biggest challenger, said Monday he would accept an independent investigation and several others have followed suit.