Abdullah questions UN role in Afghan presidential election
October 4th, 2009 - 12:28 pm ICT by ANILondon, Oct 4 (ANI): Afghanistan’s incumbent President Hamid Karzai’s main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, has called for an inquiry into the United Nations role since the August poll.
The UN along with the Afghan authorities is responsible for the presidential election’s smooth running and investigating claims of fraud.
Abdullah said serious questions had been raised about the neutrality of the UN special envoy to the country, Kai Eide.
The accusation comes after the dismissal of a key deputy to Eide, the BBC reports.
Peter Galbraith said he was sacked over a dispute with his superior about how to handle allegations of fraud, and added that Eide had chosen to side with President Karzai, an accusation denied by the UN.
Abdullah said the incident had greatly damaged the UN standing in the country. “It took a brave individual (Peter Galbraith) to stand up for transparency.”
“His remarks and what has happened in the last few weeks - question the neutrality of Kai Eide’s mission,” he added.
Unofficially Karzai has won this election. But most of the allegations of fraud are against the president and his supporters, the BBC reports.
Investigations into voter fraud are ongoing and an official announcement about the result is not expected until next week. (ANI)
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