Brown relief after Karzai's Afghanistan concession

Tuesday, 20 October 2009 12:00 AM

By Alex Stevenson

Gordon Brown praised Hamid Karzai as "statesmanlike" after the Afghan president conceded he could not be re-elected without a second round.

The incumbent looked like receiving the required overall majority before Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission dismissed nearly a third of votes because of suspicions of fraud.

Following the recount he only won 48.3 per cent to former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah's 31.5 per cent, requiring a second round to be held on November 7th.

Mr Karzai said the time was right to focus on "stability and national unity" rather than "investigations", in what Mr Brown described as a "statesmanlike" response.

The prime minister said: "I have consistently said that the election must be allowed to run its course and that all concerned should respect the process. There is no doubt that there have been flaws and we will need to apply the lessons of this process."

Relations between Kabul and London have been strained in recent months as Mr Karzai's administration appeared reluctant to address claims of vote-rigging and electoral fraud in the August 20th poll.

Last week Mr Brown said he would raise British troop levels in Afghanistan to 9,500 - but made the offer conditional on international support, the training of new Afghan troops and equipment availability.

In today's statement the prime minister sought to underline Britain's commitment to Afghanistan.

"I assured President Karzai that he and his country would have the full support of Britain and the international community through this process," he added.

"As I made clear last week, Britain remains committed to seeing its obligations through in Afghanistan. Our strategy depends on a strong Afghan government showing the leadership required to gain the trust of its people. This election is the opportunity for them to choose that leadership."

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• foreign policy
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• middle east