Afghan tribal leaders call for Karzai to quit after detailing election fraud

Hundreds of tribal elders and officials from southern Afghanistan gathered in Kabul yesterday to protest against alleged electoral fraud that robbed entire districts of their votes and allocated them to President Karzai. In a string of searing testimonies, community leaders told of villages that had been too terrified to vote because of Taleban threats–yet had mysteriously produced full ballot boxes. They said that most of the phantom votes had been cast for Mr Karzai, often by his own men or tribal leaders loyal to him.