WASHINGTON — The United States and NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan have told the government of President Hamid Karzai they believes he will be re-elected despite problems with the August 20 vote, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Washington and the NATO countries also told the Karzai administration that they will support the Afghan leader's policy of seeking to get Taliban fighters to defect, the Post reported, citing unnamed US officials.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers reached "consensus" that Karzai would probably "continue to be president" at a Friday meeting in New York with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, a US official told the newspaper.
Based on preliminary results, incumbent president Karzai has 54.6 percent of the votes declared valid, against 27.8 percent for ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. The result however will not be finalized until several electoral fraud investigations are resolved.
If a significant number of votes are invalidated, Karzai's score could edge below 50 percent, forcing him into a run-off vote with Abdullah.
The ministers on Friday agreed that Karzai would win either by maintaining his vote margin above 50 percent or in the runoff, the Post reported.
The administration of President Barack Obama is in an intense debate over whether to send in more troops to Afghanistan amid waning public support for the war, and an Afghan election marred by fraud allegations.
The report also comes amid news that the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 30,000-40,000 troops for the country.WASHINGTON — The United States and NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan have told the government of President Hamid Karzai they believes he will be re-elected despite problems with the August 20 vote, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Washington and the NATO countries also told the Karzai administration that they will support the Afghan leader's policy of seeking to get Taliban fighters to defect, the Post reported, citing unnamed US officials.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers reached "consensus" that Karzai would probably "continue to be president" at a Friday meeting in New York with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, a US official told the newspaper.
Based on preliminary results, incumbent president Karzai has 54.6 percent of the votes declared valid, against 27.8 percent for ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. The result however will not be finalized until several electoral fraud investigations are resolved.
If a significant number of votes are invalidated, Karzai's score could edge below 50 percent, forcing him into a run-off vote with Abdullah.
The ministers on Friday agreed that Karzai would win either by maintaining his vote margin above 50 percent or in the runoff, the Post reported.
The administration of President Barack Obama is in an intense debate over whether to send in more troops to Afghanistan amid waning public support for the war, and an Afghan election marred by fraud allegations.
The report also comes amid news that the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 30,000-40,000 troops for the country.
Washington and the NATO countries also told the Karzai administration that they will support the Afghan leader's policy of seeking to get Taliban fighters to defect, the Post reported, citing unnamed US officials.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers reached "consensus" that Karzai would probably "continue to be president" at a Friday meeting in New York with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, a US official told the newspaper.
Based on preliminary results, incumbent president Karzai has 54.6 percent of the votes declared valid, against 27.8 percent for ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. The result however will not be finalized until several electoral fraud investigations are resolved.
If a significant number of votes are invalidated, Karzai's score could edge below 50 percent, forcing him into a run-off vote with Abdullah.
The ministers on Friday agreed that Karzai would win either by maintaining his vote margin above 50 percent or in the runoff, the Post reported.
The administration of President Barack Obama is in an intense debate over whether to send in more troops to Afghanistan amid waning public support for the war, and an Afghan election marred by fraud allegations.
The report also comes amid news that the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 30,000-40,000 troops for the country.WASHINGTON — The United States and NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan have told the government of President Hamid Karzai they believes he will be re-elected despite problems with the August 20 vote, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Washington and the NATO countries also told the Karzai administration that they will support the Afghan leader's policy of seeking to get Taliban fighters to defect, the Post reported, citing unnamed US officials.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers reached "consensus" that Karzai would probably "continue to be president" at a Friday meeting in New York with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, a US official told the newspaper.
Based on preliminary results, incumbent president Karzai has 54.6 percent of the votes declared valid, against 27.8 percent for ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. The result however will not be finalized until several electoral fraud investigations are resolved.
If a significant number of votes are invalidated, Karzai's score could edge below 50 percent, forcing him into a run-off vote with Abdullah.
The ministers on Friday agreed that Karzai would win either by maintaining his vote margin above 50 percent or in the runoff, the Post reported.
The administration of President Barack Obama is in an intense debate over whether to send in more troops to Afghanistan amid waning public support for the war, and an Afghan election marred by fraud allegations.
The report also comes amid news that the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 30,000-40,000 troops for the country.
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