Karzai wins absolute majority amid 'clear proof of fraud'

Despite international pressure to carry out recounts, the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Tuesday announced that President Hamid Karzai had achieved an absolute majority in the 20th August presidential election.

The UN-backed independent Election Complaints Commission (ECC) reported that there was "clear proof" of fraud in the election, and it ordered the IEC to review votes cast in the relevant polling stations.

The IEC said the latest count showed Karzai had 54.1 per cent of the vote against 28.3 per cent accorded his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah, with 90 percent of the vote counted. A candidate must win at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off.

Daoud Ali Najafi, IEC chief electoral officer, told a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the IEC would not be able to recount the ballots until it counted 100 percent of the votes from the polling stations and announced the preliminary results.

Afghan officials and Western diplomats said Karzai was under increased pressure to allow the body to exclude more "fraudulent votes".