& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

US envoy, Karzai exchange hot words over polls fraud

AFP, Kabul
Afghanistan's bitter presidential election, tainted by vote-rigging allegations, has become a pivotal issue in increasingly frosty ties between Kabul and Washington, analysts and diplomats said Friday.
As concerns mount about the extent of fraud in the August 20 elections, a US official said Washington s envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard I lolbrooke, raised concerns about irregularities with President I lamid Karzai.
The United States and other Western allies welcomed the elections as a success, but allegations of widespread fraud and early results that point to turnout as low as 30-35 percent have raised credibilityconcerns.
With 17 percent of the results released, Karzai leads his former foreign minister
Abdullah Abdullah by 42.3 percent to 33.1 percent.
The day after the election, Holbrooke -- who met all major presidential candidates — pressed Karzai over allegations of widespread vote-rigging, an official with knowledge of the meeting told AFP.
"It was a difficult meeting and there were some sharp exchanges in it," the official said in Washington on condition of anonymity.
"The thrust of the meeting was to respect the electoral process, let it take its course and be patient and to respect the results, whatever they are," the US official said.
Holbrooke reiterated to each candidate the public US line that Washington was neutral in the race and steered clear of recommending a run-off before complete results were known, the official said.
While the meeting has been character
ised as testy, Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for t he US embassy in Kabul, said: "There was no shouting and no one stormed out."
Karzai's campaign office was quick to claim an outright election victory and within 24 hours of the polls closing his camp was exchanging fiery words with Abdullah, who also said he was winning.
Abdullah has alleged massive fraud and ballot stuffing, and has presented the media with video and other evidence to back up his claims.
I le has made formal complaints to the small and stretched Election Complaints Commission, which received 790 allegations of fraud on election day alone.
Diplomats in the Afghan capital said Karzai told Holbrooke in one of their two meetings that there would be no need for a second-round run-off as the vote would return him for another five years.