Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has agreed to rejoin an audit of the votes, the United Nations said on Sunday, after tense negotiations to rescue the election amid a prolonged dispute over fraud.
The country’s first democratic transfer of power has been engulfed in fraud allegations, undermining international hopes that a smooth election would help vindicate the costly US-led military and civilian aid effort since 2001.
Abdullah’s representatives refused to attend the recount today due to disagreements over how votes would be judged fraudulent or clean — throwing the election into further chaos.
But a deal was finalised later in the day, averting an imminent collapse of the process to choose President Hamid Karzai’s successor as NATO combat troops wind down their 13-year war against the Taliban.