A senior Afghan leader has said his country’s government will begin peace talks with the Taliban in the “near future”.

A senior Afghan leader has said that his country’s government will begin peace talks with the Taliban in the “near future”.

Afghanistan’s two presidential candidates have signed a power-sharing deal for the roles of president and chief executive three months after a disputed run-off that threatened to plunge the country into turmoil and complicate the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops.

The Taliban has struck a government compound in eastern Afghanistan in a dawn attack that included two suicide truck bombings and left at least 12 people dead, including eight off duty policemen asleep in their quarters nearby.

Gunmen have launched a pre-dawn attack on Kabul International Airport in the Afghan capital, raining down rockets, setting off a gunbattle with security forces and forcing the airport to close for hours.

The US and its allies are growing increasingly concerned as Afghanistan shows signs of unravelling in its first democratic transfer of power from President Hamid Karzai.

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has told thousands of supporters he plans to declare victory as he claimed massive fraud was responsible for preliminary results putting his rival ahead.

Eight military personnel were killed and another 13 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked an air force bus in Afghanistan’s capital today.

Afghan officials are estimating that the turnout in a presidential run-off was about 60%, and nearly 50 people have been killed in attacks nationwide.

Afghanistan’s election commission has delayed a planned release of full results from the April 5 presidential election to allow for recounts and audits.

New partial results in Afghanistan’s presidential election released yesterday show candidate Abdullah Abdullah is still the front- runner, though a runoff election looks likely.

Two clear frontrunners have emerged in Afghanistan’s presidential election as partial results showed a tight race that appears destined for a run-off vote.

Partial results in Afghanistan’s crucial presidential election show a tight race between ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani.

Campaigning officially opened yesterday in Afghanistan’s presidential election, with 11 candidates vying to succeed president Hamid Karzai in polls seen as a crucial test of whether Afghanistan can ensure a stable political transition.

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 will control its own security within five years and prosecute corrupt officials, President Hamid Karzai pledged yesterday in an inauguration speech made under intense pressure to shed the cronyism and graft that marked his government’s first term.

Afghanistan president Hamid Mr Karzai today promised to root out his government’s endemic corruption in an inauguration speech made under intense pressure to shed the cronyism and graft that marked his first term.

Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai promised in his inauguration speech today that he will prosecute corrupt government officials.

The UN Security Council today joined calls on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fight corruption, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling the country’s political situation “delicate”.

FORMER foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who quit Afghanistan’s troubled presidential election race this week, yesterday said Hamid Karzai’s re-election had “no legal basis”.

The Afghan government was today accused of squandering the lives of its Western allies amid a sea of corruption.

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai vowed yesterday that his new government would eradicate corruption and unite the country after months of political chaos as he offered an olive branch to Taliban insurgents.

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.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai was effectively handed a second five-year term when his only challenger dropped out of the race and the US said it was prepared to work with the man it had previously criticised to combat corruption and confront the Taliban.

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai’s leadership is weak, his government corrupt and nearly a third of the votes he won in the August election were thrown out as fakes.

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.

Afghan challenger Abdullah Abdullah says he will not participate in the November 7 runoff presidential election after his demands for changes in the election commission were not met.

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.

UN staff in Afghanistan were ordered to stay at home today, 24 hours after the Taliban killed five of their colleagues in an attack on a Kabul hotel.

TALIBAN militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by UN staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early yesterday, killing 11 people, including six UN staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month’s presidential runoff election.

Taliban disguised as police killed five UN workers after storming their living quarters in Kabul today in an effort to disrupt the forthcoming presidential election.

The brother of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan denied reports today that he has been in the pay of the CIA for the past eight years.

Taliban militants wearing suicide vests stormed a guest house used by UN staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early today, killing 12 people – including six UN staff – in the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month’s presidential run-off election.

A former US Marine-turned diplomat has become the first American official to resign in protest at the war in Afghanistan.

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai and his challenger ruled out a power-sharing deal before Afghanistan’s November 7 runoff, saying the second round of balloting must be held as planned to bolster democracy in this war-ravaged country.

Taliban fighters today warned Afghans not to take part in the war-wracked country’s forthcoming presidential runoff, threatening to launch a fresh wave of violence on polling day to stop them.

THE main challenger to President Hamid Karzai yesterday urged action to prevent a repeat of massive fraud that compromised Afghanistan’s elections as officials warned the run-off faced major challenges.

President Hamid Karzai’s chief political rival agreed to run in the November 7 run-off election and said he’ll be ready.a

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.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today Afghanistan’s run-off elections will pose a “huge challenge” next month.

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.