Roll-out of Afghan results

AFGHANISTAN prepared to roll out partial results from a hotly contested election marred by allegations of massive fraud and tensions as President Hamid Karzai and his top rival claimed the lead.

Officials will release preliminary results from today, but the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has warned the final result, due next month, could be swayed by investigations into some of the 225 recorded abuses.

“It is not my job to define how significant and how widespread those irregularities have been. That is up to the process that now follows and where the ECC will play a critical role,” UN special envoy Kai Eide said.