Abdullah accepts runoff challenge

As part of efforts to avert cheating in the upcoming ballot,election officials have fired 200 district election chiefs following complaints by candidates or observers about misconduct in their regions,the UN said last week.

Abdullah said US and Afghan forces must provide security to prevent a repeat of a wave of Taliban attacks in August that killed dozens.

Voters are taking a risk in some parts of the country and they should be confident that that risk is worthwhile,said Abdullah,who said he called Karzai to thank him for agreeing to hold the second round. I would like to see that our people are participating without an environment and atmosphere of fear and intimidation. But he conceded security was far from perfect.

There are some circumstances that we cannot change in the coming 15 days,like areas which Taliban can threaten the people, Abdullah said.

Abdullahs declaration sets the stage for an election that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said would be a huge challenge to pull off without repeating the widespread fraud that marred the first-round balloting. The world body has set aside more than 20 million to support the poll,according to the UN spokesman in Kabul,Aleem Siddique.

Finding replacements for election workers implicated in fraud will be difficult. The government had to scramble this summer to recruit enough election officials and poll workers,especially at voting stations for women.