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| Afghanistan |
| Front-Runner in Afghan Election Secures a Key Ally |
| 2014-05-12 |
| [NY Times] Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... , the front-runner in Afghanistan's presidential election campaign, announced Sunday that he had won the endorsement of Zalmay Rassoul, the Together the two men's tickets took about 55 percent of the vote in the first round of voting on April 5, but there is no guarantee that voters would vote the same way in a second round, tentatively set for June 14. Adding to the prospect that Mr. Rassoul may not bring all his first-round votes with him is that his team appears to have split, with one of his two vice-presidential running mates declining to support Mr. Abdullah's campaign. Mr. Abdullah's camp and some analysts worry that a runoff could be rife with fraud and that there is a considerable risk that it could be disrupted by the Taliban. The krazed killers' campaign of violence failed to have much impact in the first round, but the Taliban could redouble their efforts to intimidate voters in a runoff. |
| Posted by:Fred |