Afghanistan’s president has banned the country’s courts from being able to alter election results, a move that appeared aimed at ending months of uncertainty over the parliament’s legitimacy.

President Hamid Karzai has taken key steps to reform Afghanistan's electoral system, naming a respected former judge to head an organising body and ending his bid to exclude international representatives from a fraud-monitoring group.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai accused the United Nations and the international community of interfering in the country’s fraud-marred election and seeking to weaken his authority.

Cash-strapped Afghanistan today postponed parliamentary elections planned for May 22 until the autumn.

AFGHANISTAN’S election commission proclaimed President Hamid Karzai the victor of the country’s tumultuous ballot yesterday, cancelling a planned runoff and ending a political crisis two-and-a-half months after a fraud-marred first round.

President Hamid Karzai was declared winner of Afghanistan’s troubled election today after a run-off vote planned against his main rival was cancelled.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a surprise visit to Afghanistan today as international pressure mounted for a quick resolution to the country’s electoral turmoil.

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai’s challenger withdrew yesterday from next weekend’s run-off election, effectively handing the incumbent a victory, but raising doubts about the credibility of the government at a time when the US is anxious for an effective partner in the war against the Taliban.

Talks between Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah have broken down and Mr Abdullah is likely to pull out of next week’s presidential run-off, a source said today.

AFGHANISTAN’S election commission has ordered a November 7 run-off in the disputed presidential poll after a fraud investigation dropped incumbent Hamid Karzai’s votes below 50% of the total. Karzai accepted the finding and agreed to a second-round vote.

The fraud-tainted Afghan election that cost a large slice of credibility for current president Hamid Karzai is to go to a second round, it was decided today.

Afghanistan's election commission today ordered a run-off election for November 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai's votes from the first round below 50% of the total.

A run-off in the disputed Afghanistan presidential race appeared more likely today after President Hamid Karzai was stripped of hundreds of thousands of votes by UN-backed electoral fraud investigators.

AFGHANISTAN’S election commission has released preliminary vote totals showing President Hamid Karzai with 54.6% of the vote in the first full results to be released since the country’s August 20 election.

Vote tallies from about 10% of Afghanistan’s polling stations need to be recounted because of possible irregularities in the country’s presidential election, a top poll official said today.

A UN-BACKED commission yesterday ordered a recount of tainted ballots from the Afghan presidential vote, saying it had “convincing evidence of fraud”, even as President Hamid Karzai for the first time surpassed the threshold needed to avoid a run-off and win re-election.

FIVE car bombs that detonated simultaneously rocked Afghanistan’s largest southern city Kandahar yesterday, killing at least 41 people and inuring more than 50.

President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40% of the nationwide vote for president with 10 % of polling stations counted, the Afghan election commission said today as it announced the first official returns.

Six Afghan presidential candidates warned today that fraud allegations threaten to undermine the recent election and could fuel violence.

CHARGES of fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election are extensive enough that they could sway the final result, the commission investigating the complaints said yesterday.

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai and top election challenger Abdullah Abdullah positioned themselves yesterday as the winner of Afghanistan’s presidential poll, one day after millions of Afghans braved dozens of militant attacks to cast ballots.

AFGHANISTAN will postpone its presidential election until August 20, some four months later than the Constitution specifies, to give incoming US forces more time to stabilise the country’s most violent regions, the national election commission said yesterday.

A SUNNI Arab coalition yesterday submitted its list of candidates for the December elections, signalling the intention of many Sunnis to join the political process despite their failure to block ratification of the new constitution.

Iraq’s constitution seemed assured of passage today despite strong opposition from Sunni Arabs who turned out in surprisingly high numbers in an effort to stop it.