Afghan leader's rival calls for improved security for election run-off
14:02 21/10/2009 KABUL, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - President Hamid Karzai's nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, has urged Afghan authorities to provide sufficient security to ensure a high turnout during the run-off vote set for November 7.
He also urged the authorities to prevent a repetition of the widespread fraud in the first round.
"As far as the second round is concerned my whole desire is that it will take place on time, in good circumstances, in good conditions, as far as security is concerned, as far as transparency is concerned," he was quoted by news agencies as saying on Wednesday.
He said he would later make recommendations and conditions to avoid "widespread massive fraud" and ensure a free and fair election.
Karzai gave in to international pressure on Tuesday and agreed to take part in a run-off against Abdullah, accepting the findings of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission's probe into the August 20 polls, the subject of wide-scale allegations of fraud.
The investigation determined that no candidate had received over 50% of the vote, the threshold for automatic victory. Karzai had claimed 54.6% of the vote in the first round.
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