Afghan vote

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has won 54.6 percent of the vote in August 20th's elections, according to preliminary results released on Wednesday. But about one fourth of the total ballots cast could eventually be declared invalid.

The Independent Election Commission said that it will not release official results until those claims of fraud have been investigated.

The head of the European Union election observer mission, Philippe Morillon, said about one third of the 1.5 million questionable votes were for Karzai. The mission's deputy chief Dimitra Ioannou also told reporters that about 300,000 suspicious votes had been cast for Karzai's main opponent, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Abdullah has 27.8 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary figures.

Karzai's camp has fired back, calling the EU observers' claims "irresponsible".

"Hamid Karzai's election campaign team believes today's announcement of the number of suspected votes by the head and deputy head of the EU Election Monitoring commission is partial, irresponsible and in contradiction with Afghanistan's constitution," it said in a statement. "According to the constitution of Afghanistan, addressing the electoral complaints is the responsibility of the Election Complaints Commission."

Abdullah has also spoken out, saying that he does not accept the results.

"We have announced time and again that, as long as all suspicious and fraudulent votes are not addressed and the final findings of the EEC are not announced, any results from the IEC (Independent Election Commission) are not important," said Abdullah spokesman Sayed Aqa Fazel Sancharaki.

An official with both bodies told AFP that investigations of fraud could take two to three weeks to complete.

Afghanistan and the international community have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of the presidential election that took place four weeks ago.

However, the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission called for a recount at more than 2,500 polling stations on Tuesday, which could lead to a second round of voting if the recount puts Karzai below the 50 percent mark needed to win.

"We are not saying that every one of these votes must be fraudulent. It proves that an enquiry must be made in every one of the cases, in every polling station concerned," Philippe Morillon, chief EU observer, said at a press conference in Kabul.

"We refuse to be complicit in any attempt of massive fraud," he added.

svs/vj/reuters/AFP/dpa
Editor: Susan Houlton