UN panel confirms fraud in election

KABUL (AP) — U.N.-backed fraud investigators on Monday threw out nearly a third of President Hamid Karzai’s votes from the August election, undercutting his claim of victory and stepping up the pressure for him to accept a runoff.

The Obama administration has been holding off on a decision to send more troops to Afghanistan until a credible government is installed in Kabul.

Both Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the U.N. secretary general signaled Monday that a resolution was near.

Clinton said Karzai planned to announce his intentions today, adding that she was “encouraged at the direction the situation is moving.”

A spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he spoke with Karzai and that the Afghan leader assured him he will “fully respect” the constitutional process even if it means a runoff against his top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

The findings by the Electoral Complaints Commission dropped Karzai’s votes to 48 percent of the total, below the 50 percent threshold needed for him to avoid a runoff, according to calculations by independent election monitors.

Still, it was uncertain whether the Afghan-led Independent Election Commission, which is dominated by Karzai supporters, would accept the findings and announce a second round.

Karzai campaign spokesman Waheed Omar said the Karzai camp was waiting for the election commission to formally certify the U.N.-backed panel’s findings, thereby giving them the force of law. Although short of an unequivocal pledge to accept a runoff, the statement appeared to represent a step in that direction after days of outright rejection.

Karzai’s camp had complained about the panel of three foreigners and two Afghans which conducted the fraud investigation, saying foreigners were unfairly influencing the outcome.

Last week, Karzai aides suggested he might contest the findings, setting off a series of last-minute diplomatic efforts, including visits by Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as telephone calls by Clinton and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Karzai met again late Monday with Kerry and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry to discuss the standoff.

The two-month election crisis threatens to undermine the Obama administration’s Afghan strategy at a time when public support for the eight-year war is declining in the U.S. and the Taliban-led insurgents are gaining strength. The White House says President Barack Obama will not decide whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until the political crisis is resolved.

Preliminary results released last month showed Karzai winning more than 54 percent of the vote in the 36-candidate race. However, proclamation of a Karzai victory was withheld until the U.N.-backed commission finished its investigation into widespread fraud allegations.

The inquiry was concluded last week, but the panel withheld releasing the findings while talks were conducted with the Karzai-dominated election commission that must certify the results and order any runoff.

The U.N.-backed panel decided to release its report Monday after the Afghan commissioners kept insisting on changes that would show Karzai winning outright. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.