The Times
09/11/2009
By Jerome Starkey and James Hider Kabul

One of Afghanistan’s most powerful warlords has defended the popular right to protest against the presidential election results, raising fears that the country could be engulfed by violence if supporters of the losing candidates reject the poll as being rigged.

General Atta Mohammad Nur, who broke ranks with the Government to support President Karzai’s main election rival, insisted: “It is the right of our people to defend their votes. Demonstrations, gatherings, strikes and protests against fraud being carried out by the current system are the absolute right of the people.”

Speaking on national television, he accused the country’s Interior Minister, Hanif Atmar, of “forcing people to keep silent”.

The two men fought on opposite sides during the Soviet occupation: General Atta was a Mujahidin commander, while Mr Atmar lost part of his leg fighting for the communists.

“They are threatening people from whose blood they have gained positions and powers,” General Atta, the Governor of Balkh province in the north, added. “No internal or external power can oppress our free people.”

His comments follow threats from the Interior Ministry to “break the teeth” of anyone who demonstrates.

The main opposition leader, Abdullah Abdullah — who has 28 per cent of the vote compared with Mr Karzai’s 54 per cent, with almost all the votes counted — warned yesterday that the fraud was a “recipe for instability”. He has vowed to use every legal means possible to challenge the results but his supporters have warned of Iran-style protests — with Kalashnikovs — if Mr Karzai wins outright in the first round, insisting he could only do so by cheating. Diplomats fear the country could be split along ethnic lines.

“Most people don’t realise how dangerous the situation is,” said an Afghan businessman. “They underestimate the opposition, and most people overestimate the Government’s ability to calm things down.”

The price of Kalashnikovs has almost doubled in recent weeks, prompting speculation that people are rearming in the post-election chaos despite years of international efforts to reduce the number of weapons in circulation.

The UN-sponsored Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ruled 83 polling stations out of the count yesterday, citing fraud in at least three provinces. The commission did not say how many overall votes were nullified. On Tuesday they ordered a partial recount in some areas amid fears that the Independent Election Commission (IEC), responsible for tallying the votes, was caving in to pressure from the President to ignore blatant irregularities.

Mr Karzai needs 50 per cent plus one vote to avoid a second round. But the ECC has the authority to annul suspect ballots. While Mr Karzai has welcomed the results, UN officials said that as many as one in five votes may have been cast illegally.

Western diplomats are pressuring the IEC to exclude suspect ballots. But the published results show that officials have already ignored clear evidence of fraud. At one polling station in Torzai, Kandahar, Mr Karzai won 100 per cent of the 4,049 votes. Four of the eight booths collected exactly 500 votes. Grant Kippen, the Canadian head of the ECC, said that the audit and recount orders applied across the country, not just to southern provinces where monitors have already started sifting through ballot boxes for evidence of fraud. Asked if the IEC had been seriously compromised by fraud, he replied: “We [the ECC] are the safety valve in that respect. It’s good that we are here, and we have the ability to respond to this.”

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