Evidence of fraud as Hamid Karzai passes threshold in Afghan poll

• Julian Borger and Kate Connolly in Berlin
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 September 2009 20.43 BST

Afghan police help injured civilians after a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on Tuesday. Photograph: Reuters

A commission backed by the UN yesterday declared it had “convincing evidence of fraud” in Afghanistan’s elections and called for a recount of suspect ballots.

The announcement came as the count put President Hamid Karzai over the 50% threshold necessary to avoid a runoff and win re-election. With more than 90% of the votes counted, Karzai was ahead of his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, by 54% to 28%.

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Tags: Afghanistan's elections, fraud, Kunduz air strike, President Hamid Karzai, UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission