KABUL, Afghanistan (The Dissociated Press) - After threatening for the past several weeks to bring the United State's delicately crafted image of his country as a functioning democracy crashing down before the world, Afghan president Hamid Karzai bowed to intense pressure from Washington Tuesday and admitted that he had falsely reported to police and the Afghanistan National Television network (ANTV) that his 2 year-old son, Mirwais, had drifted away in a large home-built helium balloon. Karzai said he made the report in order to elicit public sympathy and drum up support for his bid to become a part owner of the St. Louis Rams professional football team.
Mr. Karzai also admitted that during August 20th's presidential election "a few of [his] supporters might have accidentally dropped" six or seven hundred-thousand ballots, with his name on them, into voting boxes around the country, and he agreed to participate in a two-man run-off election next month.
Karzai, who is making his first bid for reelection since December 2004, when he won Afghanistan's presidency in a game of Donkey Kong with then-US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was previously insistent that he had garnered well over 50% of the votes in the August election, obviating the need for a run-off. However, charges of electoral fraud and malfeasance were levied against the president and his campaign almost immediately by other candidates and numerous non-partisan "observer" organizations, including Amnesty International, the Audubon Society of Sheboygan County, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Save the Delta Smelt.
The debate over foul play in the election became so heated that it raged even within the United Nations' mission here. Its number 2 official, Peter W. Galbraith, accused the mission chief, Kai Eide, of trying to cover up the corruption of Mr. Karzai's campaign, which Mr. Eide angrily denied. Still, Mr. Eide was publicly dismissive, on several occasions, of the claims made by Mr. Galbraith and others of electoral irregularities. On September 30th, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon intervened, recalling Mr. Galbraith from Afghanistan, citing the fact that Mr. Eide "is from Norway and hates smelt."
Mr. Galbraith was vindicated when a subsequent UN investigation concluded that of the over 5 million votes the Karzai campaign claimed to have won, only 53 were legitimate.
There is now scheduled to be a November 7th run-off between President Karzai and his closest competitor, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah Rosanna Danna. Mr. Karzai's decision to agree to the run-off came as a relief to the US, which, had he not done so, was planning to invade Burundi.
Mr. Karzai also admitted that during August 20th's presidential election "a few of [his] supporters might have accidentally dropped" six or seven hundred-thousand ballots, with his name on them, into voting boxes around the country, and he agreed to participate in a two-man run-off election next month.
Karzai, who is making his first bid for reelection since December 2004, when he won Afghanistan's presidency in a game of Donkey Kong with then-US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was previously insistent that he had garnered well over 50% of the votes in the August election, obviating the need for a run-off. However, charges of electoral fraud and malfeasance were levied against the president and his campaign almost immediately by other candidates and numerous non-partisan "observer" organizations, including Amnesty International, the Audubon Society of Sheboygan County, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Save the Delta Smelt.
The debate over foul play in the election became so heated that it raged even within the United Nations' mission here. Its number 2 official, Peter W. Galbraith, accused the mission chief, Kai Eide, of trying to cover up the corruption of Mr. Karzai's campaign, which Mr. Eide angrily denied. Still, Mr. Eide was publicly dismissive, on several occasions, of the claims made by Mr. Galbraith and others of electoral irregularities. On September 30th, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon intervened, recalling Mr. Galbraith from Afghanistan, citing the fact that Mr. Eide "is from Norway and hates smelt."
Mr. Galbraith was vindicated when a subsequent UN investigation concluded that of the over 5 million votes the Karzai campaign claimed to have won, only 53 were legitimate.
There is now scheduled to be a November 7th run-off between President Karzai and his closest competitor, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah Rosanna Danna. Mr. Karzai's decision to agree to the run-off came as a relief to the US, which, had he not done so, was planning to invade Burundi.
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