Karzai widens lead over Abdullah

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai widened his lead over his top challenger on Wednesday after Afghan officials released more partial vote results. The Presidents new total pushed him closer to the 50 per cent threshold that would allow him to avoid a two-man runoff.

The Independent Election Commission released its second batch of results from last weeks presidential election. More results will be released in coming days,and final certified results are expected in mid-September,after investigations are held into the dozens of serious complaints of fraud that have been filed.

Top challenger Abdullah Abdullah has accused Karzai of widespread rigging,including ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation.

The latest returns boost Karzais standing to 44.8 per cent. Abdullah now has 35.1 per cent. The count is based on returns from 17 per cent of polling stations nationwide,meaning the results could still change dramatically. Before the results were released,Ramazan Bashardost a candidate who appears to come in third stood up in front of the commission and also lodged complaints about the process.