Afghans Race to Organize Karzai-Abdullah Runoff

The campaigns of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and President Hamid Karzai traded claims that each had won...

The campaigns of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and President Hamid Karzai traded claims that each had won more than 50 percent of the popular vote, the threshold for avoiding a run-off. Until the Independent Electoral Commission announces preliminary results -- and it said today it will not do so until next week ? the campaigns seem likely to continue to swap such claims.

(AP Photo)

Karzai appeared before reporters moments after the government election commission accepted the findings of the auditors that the president fell short of a majority. The Karzai-influenced commission released preliminary results last month that showed the president winning with more than 54 percent out of a field of 36 candidates.

Agreement came at the end of a day of intensive talks between Karzai and Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He praised the Afghan leader for "genuine leadership in the decision he has made today." The two men met at least four times before the announcement.

An Afghan who is close to Karzai told The Associated Press that both Kerry and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had made clear that the United States and its international partners could not accept the results of an election that was so tainted by fraud. The Afghan spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

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Although accepting a new election, Karzai demonstrated flashes of irritation, occasionally glancing at his watch as the news conference dragged on. Karzai supporters had complained of interference by foreigners, especially those on the U.N.-backed panel, which investigated and reported the fraud.

Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, noted that most of the rejected ballots were from his power base in the Pashtun-dominated south, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. He said those votes were "disrespected" and should be investigated further.

In an interview later with The Associated Press, Kerry described the evolution in Karzai's thinking.

"President Karzai really deeply believes he had won the election and ... that the international community was kind of conspiring to push for a different outcome," Kerry said in a telephone interview from Dubai. "He had people within his government, people within the election commission who felt they were being insulted about putting together a faulty election process."