United Nations Radio

Kai Eide at press conference

DIANE: The UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan, accused of hiding voter fraud and siding with one of the candidates, has acknowledged "widespread fraud" in the disputed Afghan elections. At a press conference in Kabul on Sunday, Kai Eide, accompanied by ambassadors from the US and several European countries, rejected allegations by his deputy that he had concealed evidence of fraud.

EIDE: I spent all my time over the last weeks for one purpose, and that is to bring this election process forward. That's been a difficult process. It's been marred by so many problems not least as you know, widespread fraud.

DIANE: Kai Eide said his deputy, Peter Galbraith, who was dismissed last month, had proposed closing down more than a thousand polling stations, a proposal Eide said that was not supported by the international community as Galbraith had claimed.

EIDE: We all understood that to preemptively remove 1,200 polling centers would prevent a large number of voters, primarily Pashtuns. Therefore we did try to open as many polling stations as possible, including through military operations during the last weeks before the elections. I could not take a decision one month before the elections that would already disenfranchise a large number of Afghans from voting. If we had done that it would in itself have created an important element of potential instability in the country.

DIANE: Despite the fact that the UN role in the elections was to provide technical assistance and not to observe the elections, Kai Eide said staff of the UN Mission in Afghanistan were present at polling stations to report on security conditions and voter turnout at great risk to themselves.

EIDE: I personally insisted, I personally insisted that UN personnel should be on the ground wherever possible without taking unacceptable security risks in order to contribute to deterring fraud through their presence.

DIANE: In the meantime, Kai Eide told journalists in Kabul that the allegations, which he said were neither fair nor true, had affected him and the UN Mission in Afghanistan.

EIDE: Now the allegations made against me by my former deputy have not only been personal attacks against me and my integrity, but they have been attacks that in fact have affected the entire election process. And let me first say that some of those allegations were based on private conversations whilest he was a guest in my house for three months. My view is that private discussions around a dinner table remain just that - private.

DIANE: Kai Eide also acknowledged that he had reservations about the reliability of reports of voter turnout in some provinces. He said the extent of the fraud is now being determined.

EIDE: It is important to me that when information is shared and provided by the UN, it must have the level of solidity that can make it authoritative. Therefore we had to underline that the quality of information had variable reliability and often could not be verified.

DIANE: Kai Eide urged the international community not to forget that amidst all the discussions it was important to pay tribute to all those Afghans who, under difficult circumstances, had gone to the polls and voted, and were now awaiting the final outcome of those elections.

Producer: Diane Bailey
Duration: 3'39"