Karzai 'is Afghan election victor'

Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai has won 54% of votes counted in the country’s presidential election, officials said today.

With almost all of the votes counted the results show that Mr Karzai has surpassed the important 50% threshold for the first time. He needs a simple majority to avoid a two-man run-off. The country’s electoral commission said nearly 92% of votes have been counted.