Afghan men attend a gathering in support of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, who is also a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections in August, in Kabul July 1, 2009. Reuters Pictures 5 months ago

Afghan men attend a gathering in support of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, who is also a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections in August, in Kabul July 1, 2009.

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  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 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.
  16. Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on September 17, 2009. Karzai on September 17 flatly denied major fraud in Afghanistan's troubled elections and urged foreign allies not to interfere in probes over irregularities that could slash his clear lead. Afghans went to the polls last month to elect a president for only the second time in history with a Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion replaced the Islamist regime with Western-backed rule.

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