Afghan poll: Abdullah supporters march against fraud
June 28 BBC
Thousands of supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah
Abdullah have marched through Kabul to protest against alleged fraud.
The protesters, who were joined by Mr Abdullah, echoed his claims
that the 14 June vote had been rigged against him. Vote counting shows
that Mr Abdullah is trailing his rival, Ashraf Ghani, who has also
complained of fraud.
The dispute has revived fears for Afghanistan's stability after the
withdrawal of US-led forces this year.The head of the United Nations
mission in Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, has warned that a contested election
result could inflame ethnic tensions and lead to “a slide into
violence”.
US-led troops and Afghan forces have been battling Taliban insurgents
across much of the country.The Afghan government has yet to ratify a
deal that would permit a smaller number of US troops to remain in the
country beyond 2014.More than 10,000 people are estimated to have taken
part in Friday's demonstration in support of Mr Abdullah.
The protesters chanted slogans against Mr Ghani and the election
commission, whose officials have been accused of orchestrating mass
fraud by stuffing ballot boxes.For the first time, Mr Abdullah joined
the protest, riding aboard a small truck and waving a flag.
He has not taken part in previous, smaller protests over the alleged
fraud.His supporters recently released an audio recording which appeared
to implicate a senior election official in ballot-box stuffing.Mr
Abdullah said he would no longer co-operate with the election commission
because of the alleged fraud. He also urged the United Nations to
intervene to salvage the election.A preliminary result for the second
round of the presidential election is due on 2 July.
The final result, following the adjudication of complaints, is due on
22 July.
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