Afghan president defends vote, admits some bias

[September 17, 2009]  KABUL (AP) -- Afghanistan's president conceded Thursday some government officials had been biased toward him in last month's election but defended the integrity of the vote, saying he had so far seen little proof of fraud.

President Hamid Karzai was speaking day after full preliminary results showed him with 54 percent of the vote, comfortably above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff with leading challenger Abdullah Abdullah.

Fraud investigations and recounts of suspicious ballots must finish before results are finalized, a process likely to take weeks. Observers have said enough votes are questionable that Karzai could still be forced into a runoff.

A U.N.-backed election commission has ordered a recount of ballots from 10 percent of polling stations because of suspicions tallies. Karzai and Abdullah's camps have both accused the other of ballot-box stuffing.

Karzai told reporters that "there were some government officials who were partial toward me" -- the first public acknowledgment of fraud by his supporters -- but said others were partial toward Abdullah. Karzai added that he had only so far seen concrete evidence of 1,200 ballots that were faked.

"I believe firmly in the integrity of the election, in the integrity of the Afghan people and in the integrity of the government in that process," Karzai said.

Still, Karzai held back from declaring victory, talking only of plans he will implement "if I am declared president." He urged the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission to thoroughly investigate all allegations.

The complaints commission is the final arbiter on charges of cheating. It has already thrown out results from 83 stations because of "clear and compelling" evidence of fraud.

Thousands of fake ballots were submitted across the country, and returns showed Karzai winning 100 percent of the vote in some districts. The most serious complaints were lodged in southern Afghanistan, where Karzai has strong support.

Abdullah has repeatedly accused the government-appointed election commission -- which organized the vote and is separate from the U.N.-backed complaints body -- of "state-engineered fraud" to steal the election.

He spoke out again Thursday. He said such a tainted poll would establish "illegitimate rule" and further destabilize a country already struggling to fight a resurgent Taliban militia.

"Illegitimate rule can only help the insurgency to strengthen," Abdullah told reporters at his house shortly after Karzai's press conference.

But staging a run-off election could bring its own complications. Election day Aug. 20 was marred by Taliban threats that dampened turnout and militant attacks in which dozens of people died, raising fears another vote could bring more violence.

Also, many worry that delays for fraud investigations and recounts could push any runoff into the spring, creating a power vacuum in the meantime. It is not feasible to organize a nationwide vote during winter. Snows that start in November make many roads impassable for months in this mountainous country.

Some international monitors have suggested that the solution may be a power-sharing government, but both Karzai and Abdullah ruled that out Thursday. Karzai said, however, that he would welcome Abdullah -- who previously served as foreign minister under Karzai -- into his administration.

[Associated Press; By HEIDI VOGT and RAHIM FAIEZ]

Associated Press writer Douglas Birch contributed to this report from Kabul.

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