Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Afghanistan gears up for final election result
Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:30am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Maria Golovnina
KABUL (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed fraud watchdog said Friday it was close to a verdict in its probe of Afghanistan's presidential election, which could force incumbent Hamid Karzai into a run-off against his main rival.
Afghanistan has been gripped by uncertainty since the August 20 election, marred by allegations of widespread fraud.
The bitter process has sparked tension between Karzai and his Western backers and helped delay a U.S. decision on sending extra troops to Afghanistan at a time when the Taliban insurgency is at its fiercest.
The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) watchdog has been sifting through piles of dubious ballots to determine if Karzai is the outright winner or faces a second vote against former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
"We are still working today," said Nellika Little, an ECC spokeswoman, adding that the commission was looking to issue its ruling around Saturday.
"We don't want to rush it. There is a lot of work to do."
Karzai won 54.6 percent of the vote, according to preliminary figures.
If enough votes were disqualified to push his total below 50 percent he would face Abdullah in a second round -- barring possible legal steps to invalidate the decision or an Abdullah decision to withdraw.
The Washington Post cited officials familiar with the results as saying the investigation had already cut Karzai's vote tally to about 47 percent, a result that would trigger a runoff.
The ECC said it was investigating fraud complaints and it was too early to speak about any numbers before the process is over. "We are not coming up with any figures," said Little.
Once it is done with its work, the ECC will send its verdict to the Afghan election commission.
If mandated, the second presidential vote would then be due within two weeks but the onset of the bitter Afghan winter, which makes much of the country impassable, could undermine the effort. Afghanistan's ambassador in Washington, Said Jawad, has said a second round of voting was "likely."
In the United States, the controversy surrounding the vote has been a major factor in the Obama administration's review of its Afghanistan strategy.
General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has recommended sending an additional 40,000 U.S. troops beyond the 68,000 due to be in place by the end of 2009.
Abdullah has signaled his openness to a possible compromise while calling for a second round. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Afghan woman, child killed in NATO-led operation
also on reuters
Blog: Dow 10,000: It’s do-over time!
Book trade can avoid music labels' mistakes
Video
Video: Balloon Boy found alive
More International News
Suicide bomber kills 12 in Pakistan's Peshawar
| Video
Zimbabwe's MDC boycotts unity government with Mugabe
U.N. rights council criticizes Israel over Gaza
Iranian bloggers win major press award
Gaddafi son picked as Libya leaders group head: report
More International News...
Related News
Runoff expected in Afghan election: report
7:08am EDT
SCENARIOS: Possible outcomes of Afghan election
7:15am EDT
Afghan woman, child killed in NATO-led operation
8:30am EDT
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
UPDATE 1-In New Orleans, Obama fires back at critics
U.S. F-16 pilot missing after mid-air collision
Modern man a wimp says anthropologist
Soros says U.S. economy will be drag on world growth
In New Orleans, Obama fires back at critics | Video
Obama wins first financial reform victory in months
BofA swings to $1 billion loss
Embattled Pakistan faces its worst-case scenario
Sorry, no jobs. This is California
BofA, GE earnings a cold shower for Wall Street | Video
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Balloon Boy found alive
Australia pram dragged 40m by train
Obama assures New Orleans of relief
Australia fire-fghters see success
Day of violence in Pakistan
China's EV car boom
Talk of the Town
Wall Street bonus controversy
Disabled painters showcase art
Italy denies ''paying off'' Taliban
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Iran
Iranian go-slow dims deal chances at Vienna atom talks
World powers will seek to finalize an agreement with Iran next week on processing its uranium abroad to help allay Western fears it is developing nuclear weapons. Full Article
Q+A: What Iran wants from nuclear talks
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.