His Excellency Hamid Karzai has been proclaimed winner of Afghanistan's first presidential election, almost a month after more than eight million Afghans defied threats of violence to have their first say in their country's leadership.

"With 4,442,247 legal counted votes out of a total of 8,240,538, Hamid Karzai has won... 55.4 percent," joint UN-Afghan election commission chairman, Zakim Shah, declared at a ceremony in Kabul.

"Therefore the joint electoral commission... declares His Excellency Hamid Karzai the winner of the election as the first elected president of Afghanistan."

The result was welcomed by the United Nations as well as the United States which led the coalition campaign which toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan congratulated President Karzai and said he wished him well in addressing "the challenges that still remain in Afghanistan's path to lasting peace, stability and economic recovery," spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement.

In congratulating President Karzai, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the election "is the latest milestone on the Afghan people's road to democratic government and a vibrant civil society."

Other world leaders congratulated the President on his win, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair telling parliament the poll "was the first ever election for the Afghan people and a remarkable tribute to them and to the power of democracy."

In a letter to President Karzai, EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said Afghans had "bestowed on you a strong and clear mandate to carry forward the democratic transformation of the country."

Congratulating the people of Afghanistan, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said: “ the presidential election marks another step in Afghanistan’s democratic transformation. Australia remains strongly committed to partnering Afghanistan as that process continues”.

The historic election, contested by 17 other candidates, was certified shortly after the release of the findings of a UN-appointed fraud inquiry, which concluded that "shortcomings" did not affect the outcome.

The election commission had to assess the report of a three-person panel of experts, plus the findings of its own investigation into irregularities, before certifying the election as "free and fair." The panel found the poll's "shortcomings" did not affect the result.

"This was a commendable election, particularly given the very challenging circumstances," the panel's 38-page report concluded. "There were shortcomings, many of which were raised by the candidates themselves," it said, adding that the problems should be considered to improve future elections. "But they could not have materially affected the overall result."

The panel was set up by the United Nations after 14 of the 18 candidates threatened to boycott the election in the middle of voting over alleged irregularities, arising partly from the failure and mix-up of indelible ink, which was meant to stain voters' fingers to prevent repeat voting but was easily washed off.

Panel member Craig Jenness, a Canadian former diplomat, said Afghans deserved to be proud of their first election, saying it was "conducted in a relatively calm and secure environment, with high turnout and much enthusiasm and substantial participation of women."