Afghan opponents both claim poll victory

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.

Partial preliminary results won’t be made public before Tuesday, as Afghanistan and the dozens of countries with troops and aid organisations in the country wait to see who will lead the troubled nation for the next five years. The next president faces an agenda filled with crises: rising insurgent violence, rampant corruption and a huge narcotics trade.

Claims of early victory by Karzai and Abdullah were an attempt to win the expectations game and officials with the country’s Independent Election Commission said it was too early for any such declarations. Counting at individual polling sites has been completed, but ballots are now being sent to Kabul, election officials said.