UN Afghan envoy denies covering up on fraud Afghan vote

New York, Oct.9 (ANI): The United Nations Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Karl Eide, has denied accusations he tried to cover up fraud in the country's recent presidential election.

Eide said the allegations, which followed the removal of his deputy, Peter Galbraith, were "patently false".

Galbraith had accused Eide of favouring President Hamid Karzai.

In the first public comments since the row emerged, the BBC quoted Eide, as saying that his silence was being "exploited" and was damaging the ongoing electoral process.

Explaining why he had now decided to speak out, he said: "I have been motivated by my determination to make every effort to bring the election process to a conclusion."

The election has been overshadowed by widespread allegations of fraud. According to EU election observers, about 1.5 million votes - about a quarter of all ballots - cast in August's presidential vote could be fraudulent.

They say that 1.1 million votes cast for Karzai are suspicious.

The Electoral Complaints Commission and Independent Election Commission have almost completed auditing the suspicious ballot boxes identified, the UN said in the statement.

It added that the final remaining 100 boxes, of a total of 358, were due to be examined later on Thursday.

"I intend to deal openly with all these allegations against the UN and myself relating to fraud and bias at the appropriate time," Eide said. (ANI)