THE organisation responsible for the Afghan election is trying to stop the UN-backed Election Complaints Commission (ECC) from throwing out enough of President Hamid Karzai's votes to force a second round.

Officials from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), a body seen as being heavily partisan in favour of Karzai, managed to block a planned announcement on Sunday of the results of the fraud investigation by the ECC. The body, which is controlled by a majority of non-Afghans, is facing a growing chorus of anti-foreigner rhetoric in the government-owned media. The investigation results are expected to reduce Karzai's preliminary result of 55 per cent to less than half of the votes, forcing a run-off with his nearest competitor, Abdullah Abdullah. However, in private meetings between the two commissions, IEC officials questioned the findings. “The IEC is trying to pick holes in every conceivable calculation and detail to try and hold things up,” said one official with knowledge of the discussions.

As thousands of Karzai's supporters took to the streets in Kandahar province to denounce “foreign meddling” in the election result, IEC officials admitted they were looking into legal challenges to the ECC's decision.

— The Guardian, London