Taliban leader mullah omar yesterday dismissed elections due in afghanistan next year as"a waste of time",posing a challenge to international efforts to ensure a credible poll.the participation of the pashtun ethnic group-form whom the taliban get most of their support-is seen as essential to the success of the presidential election,scheduled for april 5.the vote will be an important test of afghanistan's progress since the fall of the taliban regime in 2001.the united states and other foreign donors say the poll is crucial for the country's future after nato-led combat troops withdraw next year.