Family Life

09.02.09 | FL News Team

Tribal leaders in a southern Afghanistan province are accusing Hamid Karzai's election team of forging nearly 24-thousand votes during the recent presidential election. "The New York Times" reports the Bariz tribe had decided to support challenger Abdullah Abdullah, thinking the decision would produce a local landslide victory in the Kandahar Province. Before that could happen, they allege aides connected to Karzai's brother detained the governor of the province and closed the doors on the district's 45 polling stations on election day. They assert that the ballot boxes were stuffed with votes for Karzai. According to the "Times," the Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission says there has been more than 26-hundred cases of vote stealing and fraud claims. Currently, Karzai leads with 46-percent of the vote. Abdullah is at 33-percent.