Karzai defends vote,but admits theres bias

Afghan President Hamid Karzai conceded on Thursday some government officials had been biased toward him in last months election...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai conceded on Thursday some government officials had been biased toward him in last months election,but defended the integrity of the vote,saying he had so far seen little proof of fraud.

Karzai was speaking a day after full preliminary results showed him with 54 per cent of the vote,comfortably above the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a runoff with Abdullah Abdullah.

Karzai told reporters that there were some government officials who were partial toward me the first public acknowledgment of fraud by his supporters but said others were partial toward Abdullah. Karzai added that he had only so far seen concrete evidence of 1,200 ballots that were faked.

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I believe firmly in the integrity of the election,in the integrity of the Afghan people and in the integrity of the government in that process, Karzai said. Still,Karzai held back from declaring victory,talking only of plans he will implement if I am declared President. He urged the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission to thoroughly investigate all allegations.

The complaints commission is the final arbiter on charges of cheating. It has already thrown out results from 83 stations because of clear and compelling evidence of fraud.

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