PAJWAR, AFGHANISTAN - NOVEMBER 1: An Afghan villager grabs election material that arrived via helicopter along the Tajikistan border on November 1, 2009 in the remote village of Pajwar in Badakdshan province, Afghanistan. Abdullah Abdullah has formally withdrawn from the run-off election only six days ahead of the vote. The top challenger to President Karzai demanded the removal of several election officials alleged to have been involved in voting fraud during the August 20 presidential election. President Hamid Karzai rejected his request as talks broke down yesterday. Getty Images logo Getty Images 1 month ago

PAJWAR, AFGHANISTAN - NOVEMBER 1: An Afghan villager grabs election material that arrived via helicopter along the Tajikistan border on November 1, 2009 in the remote village of Pajwar in Badakdshan province, Afghanistan. Abdullah Abdullah has formally withdrawn from the run-off election only six days ahead of the vote. The top challenger to President Karzai demanded the removal of several election officials alleged to have been involved in voting fraud during the August 20 presidential election. President Hamid Karzai rejected his request as talks broke down yesterday.

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  1. RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - A man tending his wheat field in Jurm, in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, stands near the shadow of a helicopter carrying officials of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah July 11, 2009. Picture taken July 11, 2009.
  2. RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah sits on a carpet while interacting with the media at the end of an election rally in central Bamiyan province July 29, 2009. Afghanistan's presidential election will be held on August 20.
  3. RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - A torn campaign poster for Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah is seen on a wall in Herat November 2, 2009. Abdullah quit an election run-off on Sunday after accusing the government of not meeting his demand for a fair vote, leaving doubts over the legitimacy of the next government.
  4. Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan Foreign Minister, during an interview with the AP at his house in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Abdullah spoke about the uncertainty in Afghanistan as Afghans wait to find out if the U.S. and other nations will send thousands more troops, if the newly elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai will fight corruption and how the U.N.'s decision to send hundreds of workers safely out of the country will impact humanitarian work.
  5. Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan Foreign Minister, during an interview with the AP at his house in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Abdullah spoke about the uncertainty in Afghanistan as Afghans wait to find out if the U.S. and other nations will send thousands more troops, if the newly elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai will fight corruption and how the U.N.'s decision to send hundreds of workers safely out of the country will impact humanitarian work.
  6. An Afghan municipality worker cleans off election posters of the presidential and provincial council candidates in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai's inauguration is set for Nov. 19. He won his presidential re-election campaign by default earlier this month, after his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of a runoff vote.
  7. Afghan women walk by torn election posters of the presidential and provincial council candidates on the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai's inauguration is set for Nov. 19. He won his presidential re-election campaign by default earlier this month, after his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of a runoff vote.
  8. An Afghan municipality worker cleans off election posters of the presidential and provincial council candidates in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai's inauguration is set for Nov. 19. He won his presidential re-election campaign by default earlier this month, after his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of a runoff vote.
  9. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 28: An Afghan policeman stands guard by a Karzai poster after tensions in city remain high after a suicide bomb attack on an international guest house October 28, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban militants killed six U.N. foreign staff in the early morning assault raising serious issues about security before the Presidential run-off election in less tham two weeks time. Rockets were also fired at a the Serena hotel but no injuries were reported.
  10. A poster of legendary assassinated Afghan mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud is displayed next to one portraying President Hamid Karzai at a Kabul cinema while a worker sets up scaffolding on September 28, 2009. Afghans considered Massoud a national hero who waged battle against Soviets and Talibans while Karzai awaits final result of the poll recounts of the August 20 presidential elections the second such election in the war-torn nation's history and one held amid a vicious Taliban insurgency against the Western-backed government which deterred voters.
  11. Daily wages laborers stand near an election poster of Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, center, with first vice president Mohammad Qasim Fahim and second vice president Mohammad Karim Khalili, right, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. The U.N. is warning that violence in Afghanistan could increase after the results from the country's disputed presidential election are finally tallied and disclosed. Preliminary results from the Aug. 20 vote show President Hamid Karzai with 54.6 percent.
  12. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 17: President Hamid Karzai arrives to speak to the media for the first time since full preliminary results were announced at the Presidential palace on September 17, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Immediately after the President delivered his election message to the international media, Italian soldiers, who have stationed 2,800 soldiers in the region, suffered their deadliest attack in Afghanistan to date. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghans were killed, including 55 wounded as the blast hit in a mostly residential area of the city. While Karzai stated today that some government officials were biased toward him in the election, he defended himself and the integrity of the vote against all the allegations of fraud and ballot box stuffing. Presently Karzai has 54.6 percent of the vote, well ahead of his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The ongoing recounts and fraud investigations by the Election Complaints commission (ECC), however, could drive Karzai's total below the crucial 50 percent, forcing a runoff election.
  13. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 17: President Hamid Karzai speaks to the media for the first time since full preliminary results were announced at the Presidential palace on September 17, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Immediately after the President delivered his election message to the international media, Italian soldiers, who have stationed 2,800 soldiers in the region, suffered their deadliest attack in Afghanistan to date. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghans were killed, including 55 wounded as the blast hit in a mostly residential area of the city. While Karzai stated today that some government officials were biased toward him in the election, he defended himself and the integrity of the vote against all the allegations of fraud and ballot box stuffing. Presently Karzai has 54.6 percent of the vote, well ahead of his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The ongoing recounts and fraud investigations by the Election Complaints commission (ECC), however, could drive Karzai's total below the crucial 50 percent, forcing a runoff election.
  14. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 17: President Hamid Karzai speaks to the media for the first time since full preliminary results were announced at the Presidential palace on September 17, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Immediately after the President delivered his election message to the international media, Italian soldiers, who have stationed 2,800 soldiers in the region, suffered their deadliest attack in Afghanistan to date. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghans were killed, including 55 wounded as the blast hit in a mostly residential area of the city. While Karzai stated today that some government officials were biased toward him in the election, he defended himself and the integrity of the vote against all the allegations of fraud and ballot box stuffing. Presently Karzai has 54.6 percent of the vote, well ahead of his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The ongoing recounts and fraud investigations by the Election Complaints commission (ECC), however, could drive Karzai's total below the crucial 50 percent, forcing a runoff election.
  15. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 17: President Hamid Karzai arrives to speak to the media for the first time since full preliminary results were announced at the Presidential palace on September 17, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Immediately after the President delivered his election message to the international media, Italian soldiers, who have stationed 2,800 soldiers in the region, suffered their deadliest attack in Afghanistan to date. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghans were killed, including 55 wounded as the blast hit in a mostly residential area of the city. While Karzai stated today that some government officials were biased toward him in the election, he defended himself and the integrity of the vote against all the allegations of fraud and ballot box stuffing. Presently Karzai has 54.6 percent of the vote, well ahead of his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The ongoing recounts and fraud investigations by the Election Complaints commission (ECC), however, could drive Karzai's total below the crucial 50 percent, forcing a runoff election.
  16. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 17: President Hamid Karzai points as he speaks to the media for the first time since full preliminary results were announced at the Presidential palace on September 17, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Immediately after the President delivered his election message to the international media, Italian soldiers, who have stationed 2,800 soldiers in the region, suffered their deadliest attack in Afghanistan to date. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghans were killed, including 55 wounded as the blast hit in a mostly residential area of the city. While Karzai stated today that some government officials were biased toward him in the election, he defended himself and the integrity of the vote against all the allegations of fraud and ballot box stuffing. Presently Karzai has 54.6 percent of the vote, well ahead of his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The ongoing recounts and fraud investigations by the Election Complaints commission (ECC), however, could drive Karzai's total below the crucial 50 percent, forcing a runoff election.

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