General

UN confirms Karzai’s win a fraud, amid more scandal

Head of the UN mission denies his own misconduct, and Afghan panel member quits

Afghanistan’s August election was rigged according to Kai Eide, the head of the UN mission in that country. As many expected, President Hamid Karzai’s win is now considered a fraud, as Eide has identified “ghost polling stations” that returned fake ballots. Karzai initially won with 54 per cent of the vote, and the new result won’t be available for a few days. On Sunday, Eide denied that he initially covered up the fraud and of having a Karazi bias–claims made by the UN deputy to Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith. Eide calls Galbraith’s accusations a personal attack stemming from dinner conversations they had while Galbraith was a guest in his home. On Monday, Maulavi Mustafa Barakzia, one of two Afghan members of the UN-backed panel looking into the election, quit. Barakzia says the foreign members of the panel weren’t consulting with the Aghan members.

The Telegraph

AP

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