President Hamid Karzai declared winner of Afghanistan Polls

Kabul: Breaking News! Afghanistan's Election Commission has declared President Hamid Karzai as the winner of the elections held in the country, after the second round of voting was cancelled following the withdrawal of opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah from the race yesterday. As a result, the run-off was cancelled.

Although Hamid Karzai was declared the winner of the first round of voting in August, a large number of votes were termed invalid amid the allegations of rigging or manipulation. That forced the Election Commission to announce a run-off between Karzai and Abdullah.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who arrived in Kabul today, welcomed the EC's decision to cancel the run-off and announce Hamid Karzai as the winner. He also assured all humanitarian assistance and development support for Afghanistan.