AFGHAN ELECTION With half the votes counted, Karzai remains ahead

Officials expect to finish counting votes next week.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S.-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai was nearing victory in Afghanistan's presidential vote, election officials said, as the number of ballots counted passed the half way mark.
A win in the Oct. 9 election would make him the country's first elected leader after a quarter-century of conflict. Results today showed Karzai with 59.8 percent support and a 42-point lead over his nearest challenger, former Education Minister Yunus Qanooni.
Reginald Austin, chief technical adviser to the election's U.N. and Afghan organizers, said that by the end of the day, more than 60 percent of the votes should have been counted and "it should be fairly clear what the situation is."
Election spokeswoman Silvana Puizina expected an additional 1 million votes to be counted today. She said counting was set to continue Friday -- the Muslim holy day usually taken as a holiday in Afghanistan.
Almost done
"We expect the counting for many places to be finished by Friday or Saturday. Other places will need a few more days," she said.
However, Ray Kennedy, deputy chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body, stressed that the board would announce the outcome only after all the votes are counted and the probe into alleged irregularities is complete.
Vote counting could be finished by early next week, but the investigation could take longer.
A panel of three foreign experts was called in after accusations of fraud on polling day, especially after problems with ink used to mark voters' fingers in an effort to prevent people from voting twice.
U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said the panel had visited counting centers in Kabul and Gardez in eastern Afghanistan and spoken to candidates and Afghan and international election observers.