Afghan run-off campaigning begins

Campaigning for Afghanistan's presidential election run-off is due to officially get under way.

Incumbent President Hamid Karzai is due to face his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, in two weeks' time.

The run-off was announced after the Election Complaints Commission decided fraud in August's first round had inflated both candidates' results.

But Mr Abdullah now says he will pull out of the 7 November vote unless poll officials are dismissed.

Mr Abdullah's spokesman said the officials from the government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) should be replaced by people who both Mr Abdullah and President Karzai found acceptable. Mr Abdullah, a former foreign minister, has previously accused the commission of not being impartial.

Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Afghanistan has said it is reasonable to hope for fewer irregularities in the presidential run-off poll than in the August election.

At a state department briefing in Washington, Richard Holbrooke told reporters: "It is reasonable to hope that there will be less irregularities this time for several reasons.

"One, there are only two candidates. Two, there is the experience factor. Three, the international community... are going to go all out to help make this a success."

Kai Eide, chief of the UN mission in the country, admits that fraud cannot be eliminated but also says he expects its level to be reduced.

Mixed feelings

The Independent Election Commission says it is sacking thousands of officials from the first round and cutting the number of polling stations.

But the BBC's Charles Haviland in the Afghan capital Kabul says there are mixed feelings about the run-off.

He says that while many diplomats feel it will clear the air after a first round marked by rampant fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes on a huge scale, many ordinary Afghans cannot see the need for a second round, with some feeling that the politicians do not serve them well in any case.

Our correspondent adds that others fear the consequences of voting - hardly surprising when some had their ink-stained voting fingers cut off by Taliban militants in August.

Afghan politicians have mixed views. Some see the election as necessary, while others feel it has been imposed by Western countries.

Whatever the doubts, ballot boxes and papers are already being flown to the provinces while trucks, helicopters and donkeys are on standby to deliver them.

Turnout in the first round was less than 40%.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8323254.stm.