Karzai defends integrity of polls

Kabul

Sept. 17: President Hamid Karzai on Thursday flatly denied major fraud in Afghanistan’s troubled elections and urged foreign allies not to interfere in probes over irregularities that could slash his clear lead. Afghans went to the polls in August to elect the President for only the second time in history with a Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion replaced the Islamist regime with Western-backed rule.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has been accused of bias towards Mr Karzai, has released results in an agonisingly slow process alongside mounting claims of massive vote-rigging in favour of the President.
On Wednesday, the final preliminary vote put Mr Karzai on track to be re-elected with 54.6 percent but recounts at more than 2,500 polling stations could yet tip the balance and force him into a run-off with his rival Abdullah Abdullah.
Addressing reporters publicly for the first time since the eve of the August 20 poll, Mr Karzai played down allegations of fraud and said he would respect investigations by the IEC and UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission.
“Media has reported major fraud. It wasn’t that big. If there was fraud, it was small — it happens all over the world,” Mr Karzai told a news conference at his heavily fortified palace in the Afghan capital. But the President, whose nearly eight-year rule has been marred by worsening violence and cooling ties with the West, has been on a collision course with his international backers over fraud-tainted election.