WITH half the votes counted and interim leader Hamid Karzai holding a 40-point lead, the race for the Afghan presidency appeared to have been virtually decided yesterday, a top election official said.

With half the votes counted and interim leader Hamid Karzai still holding a 40-point lead, the race for the Afghan presidency could be virtually decided today, a top election official said.

Hamid Karzai’s victory in Afghanistan’s first presidential election could be sealed within days, a top election adviser said today – unless investigators uncover major fraud.

Early results today put interim leader Hamid Karzai far ahead of his chief rivals in Afghanistan’s landmark presidential election as the vote count was suspended for the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.