"Vote early and vote often." Al Capone...

By MARK LANDLER [NYT]

WASHINGTON — On Monday, as the vote-counting in Afghanistan was nearing an end, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was briefed by the American ambassador in Kabul, Karl W. Eikenberry. The same day, the ambassador delivered a blunt message to the front-runner, President Hamid Karzai: “Don’t declare victory.”

The slim majority tentatively awarded Mr. Karzai in Afghanistan’s fraud-scarred election has put the Obama administration in an awkward spot: trying to balance its professed determination to investigate mounting allegations of corruption and vote-rigging while not utterly alienating the man who seems likely to remain the country’s leader for another five years.

Mrs. Clinton and Ambassador Eikenberry, senior administration officials said, wanted to prevent Mr. Karzai or his backers from pre-empting an outside investigation of allegations of irregularities in the Aug. 20 vote.

“We realize that the allegations have reached such a level that we need to be very careful to allow the process to breathe,” said an administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “The message was, Let’s make sure that the electoral bodies do their work, and do it rigorously.”

On Tuesday, the United Nations-backed commission that is the ultimate arbiter of the vote said it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” at several polling stations and ordered a partial recount.

Election officials said Mr. Karzai won 54.1 percent of the vote, a percentage that, if certified, would spare him a runoff against his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who received 28.3 percent.

But in recent days, the Obama administration has grown increasingly alarmed by the raft of allegations that ballot-stuffing and phantom polling stations generated lopsided margins in favor of Mr. Karzai.

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Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission has cancelled thousands of ballots from the presidential election, as controversy deepens around the flawed poll.

The votes from 83 polling stations in three provinces, including President Hamid Karzai's home province of Kandahar, have been invalidated.

This is the first time the Commission has scrapped votes and Mr Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, has accused the president's supporters of leading an organised campaign to rig the election.

Nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next. Mr Karzai has won more than the 50 per cent of votes needed to avoid a run-off. But the electoral process is so tainted that it is unclear whether his lead will be accepted or not.

There is not much time for electoral officials to make a decision and send Afghan voters back to the polls if that is what is required.

Peter Manikas, regional director of the independent National Democratic Institute, says the controversy surrounding the poll is not a good sign for the immediate future.

The US envoy to Afghanistan has told the BBC that critics of last month's presidential election in the country should not "jump to conclusions".

Richard Holbrooke said the independent election commission should be allowed to complete its vote counting before people made judgements about the poll.

He said a rerun of the election was not a viable option.

Earlier the election complaints commission began invalidating some of the votes.

"Not all of the people in Afghanistan were able to vote, and as I've said many times before this election, there are imperfect elections throughout the west as well, and holding elections under these conditions is a very brave thing to do so let's see what happens before jumping to conclusions," Mr Holbrooke told the BBC's Newsnight programme.

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see toon that "jumped to conclusion" at top

A senior UN official in Afghanistan has been removed from his post following a row about how to handle the country's disputed election, the BBC has learned.

Peter Galbraith had angered Afghan President Hamid Karzai by criticising the country's election commission.

Mr Galbraith, from the US, was said to have called for a complete recount.

Last week the top UN Afghan envoy, Kai Eide, said Mr Galbraith had left the country after a row between them, but he denied he had ordered him to go.

UN sources say Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided to end Mr Galbraith's mission after it became clear he was no longer able to carry out his work in Afghanistan, says the BBC's Lyse Doucet.

Some Afghan cabinet ministers had said they no longer wanted to work with him.

The Afghan parliament has turned down 17 out of President Hamid Karzai's 24 nominees for his new Cabinet.

Energy minister nominee Ismail Khan, a former warlord, was among the rejected.

Nominees for justice, health, commerce, economy and women's affairs were among others rejected, but Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was re-appointed.

The BBC's Kabul correspondent says the results complicate Mr Karzai's efforts to repay political favours with Cabinet posts without offending parliament.

He also needs to satisfy international donors who have threatened to withhold funding for any ministry run by a corrupt politician, the BBC's Peter Greste adds.

Western officials have repeatedly emphasised that tackling corruption is key to stabilising the country, following the president's controversial re-election last year.

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see toon at top and everywhere else

From the BBC

Western diplomats have expressed deep concern at a decree from Afghan President Hamid Karzai granting him total control over a key election body.

The move gives him the power to appoint all five members of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

The watchdog helped expose massive fraud in last year's presidential poll, forcing Mr Karzai into a second vote.

The decree comes as Nato-led forces fight a major operation against the Taliban in central Helmand province.

President Hamid Karzai launched a stinging rebuke of the international community, blaming widespread fraud in Afghanistan's recent elections on embassies and UN and EU officials.

Mr Karzai made the remarks just days after US president Barack Obama made his first visit to Kabul since taking office and invited the Afghan head of state for talks at the White House.

It was interpreted by analysts as a clear message to Mr Karzai that Mr Obama expects him to act on promises to eradicate corruption and on his return to the US president said progress in Afghanistan was "too slow".

Mr Karzai's once close relationship with the United States and other allies, whose 126,000 NATO and US-led troops help his government contain a raging Taliban insurgency, was compromised over his re-election last year.

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It was interpreted by analysts as a clear message? Who writes this interpretation of loopiness?... see toon at top...

The United States has brushed aside fierce criticisms from Afghan president Hamid Karzai blaming election fraud on foreign officials.

US state department spokesman Philip Crowley says Mr Karzai needs to first get his own house in order.

Mr Karzai said the cash was used to maintain the presidential palace and run his office

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that his office has received cash from Iran, but insists it was part of a "transparent" process.

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Gus: from what I understand, the paper-bags are clear plastic bags... And many people in Afghanistan are also getting plenty of paper-bags made of clear plastic from the CIA — so all is well in the best of the worlds... See toon at top.

Afghanistan's election watchdog has disqualified 19 candidates who stood in the September poll for alleged fraud.

Seven of them are current members of the 249-seat parliament.

The disqualifications were announced after the UN-backed Election Complaints Commission found most of their votes were fraudulent.

It is the latest setback to the vote, which has been surrounded by allegations of corruption and rigging. A final result has yet to be declared.

The parliamentary vote was seen as a key test for the country, a year after the re-election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was overshadowed by fraud.

Turnout was around 40% in Afghanistan's second parliamentary election since the 2001 US-led invasion.

One Afghan official told Reuters news agency the disqualified candidates would not be able to appeal.

Some cases are to be referred to the Attorney General.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11805562

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