With Run-Off Canceled, Karzai Declared Winner In Afghan Election

November 2, 2009 9:15 a.m. EST

Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) - Incumbent President Hamid Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election, a day after his challenger dropped out of the race, and less than a week before a run-off was scheduled because the first round of voting in August had been plagued with fraud.

The United Nations-backed Independent Election Commission, which had been preparing for another round of voting amid heightened security challenges, scrapped the run-off and gave Karzai a second term on Monday.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the decision, saying, "This has been a difficult election process...and lessons must be learned. Afghanistan now faces significant challenges and the new President must move swiftly to form a Government that is able to command the support of both the Afghan people and the international community. The United Nations remains committed to providing every support and assistance to the new Government in helping to push forward progress for all peoples of Afghanistan."

Afghanistan held its first presidential and provincial elections in three decades on Aug. 20, amid increased Taliban attacks aimed at intimidating voters. A run-off between Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah was set for Saturday.

Abdullah pulled out on Sunday, telling supporters in a speech that he would not take part in another fraudulent election. His decision was received calmly by Washington, despite its dissatisfaction that Karzai has not done enough to fight the Taliban, which controls 40 percent of Afghanistan.

"He ran a dignified and constructive campaign that drew the support of Afghan people across the nation," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of Abdullah in a statement. "We hope that he will continue to stay engaged in the national dialogue, and work on behalf of the security and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan. It is now a matter for the Afghan authorities to decide on a way ahead that brings this electoral process to a conclusion in line with the Afghan constitution. We will support the next President and the people of Afghanistan, who seek and deserve a better future."

The United States is in the process of crafting a new strategy in its eight-year war in Afghanistan, where violence has risen to the highest level since the U.S.-led 2001 invasion. The Obama administration in July launched its first offensive in the war, Operation Khanjar or Strike of the Sword, which sought to secure the southern Helmand River valley, where militants support their activities from one of the world's largest poppy fields, before the Afghan election.

But attacks have escalated, with October becoming the deadliest month for American troops in the war, and United Nations workers targeted for the first time by militants, who killed six of the international aid agency's employees and wounded nine other workers on Wednesday.