Karzai Advisers Say Victory Is Certain

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The New York Sun

KABUL, Afghanistan – With one third of the votes counted in Afghanistan’s landmark presidential election, Hamid Karzai was leading with 64%, and his campaign team said yesterday it was certain the interim leader will win with the simple majority required to avoid a runoff.


The camp of ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, currently third, also said yesterday that the race is over, but Mr. Karzai’s main challenger accuses the American-backed incumbent of cheating and refuses to concede defeat.


Mr. Karzai’s rivals have lodged dozens of complaints with a panel of foreign experts, though it is unclear if the panel will report before the expected release of the official election result at the end of October.


Mr. Karzai needs at least 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. Election officials have said the tallies are unlikely to change much once 20% of the votes have been counted.


NATO helicopters yesterday rescued a team of Afghan election workers from snowbound mountains in the country’s remotest corner, and retrieved the last four ballot boxes containing ballots from the October 9 election. The four election workers and two police officers had been stuck in freezing conditions in northeastern Badakhshan province since October 12.


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