[Iran Press TV Latest] The UN and the West have congratulated Hamid Karzai on his re-election as Afghanistan's president, welcoming a decision by the country's electoral commission to call off the runoff. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, who is on a surprise visit to Afghanistan said on Monday that the world body will back the decision by Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC).
"I welcome today's decision by Afghanistan's IEC to forgo a runoff vote and to declare Hamid Karzai as the winner of the 2009 presidential elections," said Ban, while congratulating President Hamid Karzai on his second term in office.
The US Embassy in Kabul also congratulated Karzai on his "historic" re-election as the Afghan president in a Monday statement.
| I'm sure Hamid is really happy about our congratulations. Seems like we could have done this a month ago and skipped the dramatics. As it is we've undermined the man. |
Earlier on Monday, the IEC cancelled a run-off to the country's presidential election and declared Hamid Karzai as the country's president, after Abdullah Abdullah, the only challenger to the incumbent leader, withdrew his bid. Abdullah decided to pulled out of the second round of the Afghan presidential election on Sunday, after his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election were rejected.
| As if Afghanistan has ever seen one of those before ... |
Brown, however, later claimed that Abdullah had withdrawn from the poll "for the sake of national unity."