Intimidation, fraud mar Afghan election

Concerns grew Monday about intimidation and fraud in Afghanistan's parliamentary election as allegations of shady voting practices filtered in from outlying parts of the war-torn country.

With counting underway and the first preliminary results expected Wednesday, the Electoral Complaints Commission is compiling reports of irregularities so final results can be certified by October 31.

Nader Nadery, head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, the main independent group of election observers, said his organization would call for suspicious ballots to be voided.

"Intimidation was one of the major issues that concerns us," Nadery told Al Jazeera. "We have seen in some provinces that the level of intimida-tion did affect the decision of the voters in those areas and needs to be looked at very carefully."

Western officials have said that with 2,500 candidates vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, thousands of complaints could be expected before the deadline of 72 hours after the close of voting.

In a separate report, British forces Monday transferred control of security for Sangin district in southern Afghanistan to US troops, an area that has accounted for almost a third of the British dead in the 9-year war.

AFP