Karzai 'stripped of outright win' ; 'Deadlock' as Karzai rejects UN fraud verdict

Karzai 'stripped of outright win' In its much-anticipated report on Monday, the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered that ballots from 210 polling stations be discounted. The panel said it found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" at the polling stations, which were across the country. It was not clear how Mr Karzai would respond to the UN-backed panel's findings, amid reports of a possible legal challenge.

'Deadlock' as Karzai rejects UN fraud verdict - President Karzai is refusing to accept the result of a UN-led probe into vote-rigging in Afghanistan's presidential election and a senior aide said today that the crisis had reached a "deadlock". The White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned yesterday that President Obama would delay a decision on whether to commit up to 40,000 extra American troops to the conflict until the election crisis pans out and it becomes clear whether there's "an Afghan partner" worth fighting for.