Afghan president defends vote,admits some bias

Afghanistan's president defended the integrity of last month's election,but said some government officials 'were partial toward me.'

Afghanistan’s president defended the integrity of last month’s election on Thursday,but said some government officials “were partial toward me.”

The statement appeared to be President Hamid Karzai’s first public acknowledgement of fraud by his supporters during the August 20 vote and its aftermath.

He spoke to reporters on the day after full preliminary results showed him with a 54 per cent of the vote,comfortably above the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a runoff with leading challenger Abdullah Abdullah.

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Widespread reports of fraud still need to be investigated before results are finalised,and observers have said enough votes are questionable that Karzai could still be forced into a runoff with Abdullah.

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

A UN-backed commission that is the final arbiter on fraud has ordered a recount of about 10 percent of polling stations countrywide because of suspicious results and has already thrown out results from 83 stations because of “clear and compelling” evidence of fraud.

Karzai held back from declaring victory Thursday,talking only of plans he will implement “if I am declared president.”