KABUL -- A member of the panel investigating the widespread allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election resigned Monday and charged that United Nations officials have interfered in the probe, a possible indication that Afghan President Hamid Karzai may be forced into a runoff against his former foreign minister.

Maulavi Mustafa Barakzai, who was appointed to the panel by Afghanistan's Supreme Court, which is comprised largely of Karzai loyalists, told McClatchy Newspapers that he resigned out of frustration with what he called ``foreign interference'' by U.N. officials in the effort to determine how many questionable votes should be tossed out.

The results of the review are expected to be announced later this week.

The election has become a major challenge for the Obama administration, which needs to persuade a skeptical Congress and American public to continue waging the expensive eight-year war to prevent the Taliban-led insurgency from regaining control of Afghanistan.

If enough questionable votes are discounted, Karzai's final tally could slip to 50 percent or below, forcing him into a runoff against his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who has strong support among ethnic minorities in northern Afghanistan.

Sarwar Jawadi, a parliament member who supports Abdullah, said that Barakzai's decision to quit was a sign that the review hasn't gone Karzai's way.

``When the final results are announced, they will not be to the liking of the incumbent,'' Jawadi said.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@