Karzai U-turn on polling watchdog

The Afghan president has agreed to let two foreigners join a panel monitoring September's parliamentary elections, reversing an earlier decision. Last month Hamid Karzai signed a decree letting him appoint all five members of the Electoral Complaints Commission. But he came under fire for what some saw as a bid to control a body which stripped nearly a third of his votes in last year's fraud-tainted election. Mr Karzai was declared the eventual victor after his opponent dropped out. On Saturday, a spokesman said Mr Karzai would now accept some foreigners on the body, because the nation was on a "transitional phase" to democracy. "The Afghan government has shown its readiness to accept two non-Afghans on the Electoral Complaints Commission and this has been announced to the United Nations," Waheed Omar said. However the ECC would still be controlled by Afghans, who would have a majority of the votes, Mr Omar said. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Kabul, says Western governments reacted angrily last month when Mr Karzai announced he was taking full control of the ECC, in effect, stripping the United Nations of its power to appoint three of the five members. One Western official, speaking to the BBC, had questioned whether the international community would be willing to underwrite the costs of another election, which could be deeply flawed. The watchdog's foreign members helped expose massive fraud in last year's presidential poll, discounting nearly one million votes for Mr Karzai, and forcing him into a run-off. But days before the vote in early November, the vote was scrapped, with officials citing a need to avert further political damage to Afghanistan and a rerun of the Taliban violence that marred the first round. Mr Karzai's only rival, Abdullah Abdullah, had earlier pulled out of the run-off, saying that it would not be free or fair. Correspondents say the commission - which previously had three foreign experts appointed by the United Nations - will play a vital role in this year's parliamentary poll. The UK Foreign Office said it saw Mr Karzai's latest move as a "good development". Earlier this month, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC he was in favour of foreign representation on the panel. "... The most important thing is that we have people of independence and integrity who are able to hold the system up to account and look the Afghan people in the eye and say we've defended your right to a democratic ballot," Mr Miliband said. Mr Karzai's latest announcement came on the same day that the UN's new senior envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura arrived in the country. At Kabul airport, the Swedish diplomat and a former UN representative in Iraq spoke of the UN's plans for Afghanistan. "Whatever the UN will be doing - and we will be doing what we can in order to assist both the stability and the socio-economic improvement of the Afghan people - will be done remembering that it should be Afghan-led and it should be Afghan-owned and in total respect of their own sovereignty." He added: "The Afghan people have suffered a lot and endured a lot of difficult times. They deserve the international support but they deserve above all a better future and the UN will do its part." His predecessor, Kai Eide, warned earlier this month that the mission in Afghanistan had reached a critical point. Mr Eide said progress had been made but he also warned that "negative trends" could become irreversible over the next 12 months. The former envoy's two-year posting was overshadowed by controversy over his handling of the 2009 presidential elections.

Polling stations bombed as Iraq election begins

At least 14 people have been killed in Baghdad on the first day of voting in Iraq's parliamentary elections.

Suicide bombers attacked two polling stations in different areas of the city killing at least seven people and wounding many others.


Earlier in the day, a mortar attack on a crowded market killed seven and wounded at least 10 people.
The poll is seen as a security test for Iraq as the US prepares to reduce its military presence in the coming months.


The early voting involves hundreds of thousands of government employees, the sick and prisoners.


The first suicide bomber attacked a polling station in the Mansur district of Baghdad. Three soldiers were killed and 15 wounded.

A little under an hour later another suicide bomber blew himself up in central Baghdad, killing at least four and wounding 10 others.
There were conflicting reports about the first attack of the day in north-western Baghdad.
Agence France-Presse news agency reported that a mortar had been fired at a polling station, but hit a crowded market. Seven people, four of them children, were killed and 23 wounded.

Other reports said the blast was caused by a roadside booby-trap or a rocket fired near a school due to be used as a polling station on Sunday.

On Wednesday, three suicide bombers attacked police and a hospital in Baquba, killing at least 30 people.
Insurgents have threatened to disrupt the elections - regarded as an important test of Iraq's efforts to achieve sovereignty and overcome sectarian divisions.

"Terrorists wanted to hamper the elections, thus they started to blow themselves up in the streets," said Deputy Interior Minister Ayden Khalid Qader said.

The majority of the country goes to the polls on Sunday. More than 6,000 candidates are competing for 325 seats in the election.

The alliance led by current Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has claimed credit for a sharp fall in violence between Shia and Sunni militants.

Mr Maliki is being challenged by a number of groups, including a Shia coalition that includes radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and ex-PM Iyad Allawi's secular cross-sectarian alliance.

Travel around the country has been restricted and the authorities have canceled all leave for security services.
On polling day itself, more than 200,000 security personnel will be on duty in Baghdad.


The US is planning to reduce its military presence by about half in the coming months and withdraw completely from Iraq by 2011.