Karzai accepts runoff vote to be held on Nov 7 (Lead)

Kabul, Oct 20

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced Tuesday that he failed to win an outright election in the first round of voting and accepted the results requiring a second round that will be held in two weeks.

The president told a press conference at his palace that the decision for the second round of the election announced by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was in accordance with the Afghan constitution.

Karzai accepted Monday's verdict released by a UN-backed Election Complaints Commission on thousands of suspicious ballots cast in the Aug 20 presidential election, saying more than 1 million of the ballots had been invalidated.

Although the Independent Election Commission (IEC), an Afghan election body that conducted the August election, has not announced its final certified results, Karzai said the IEC has told him that it set Nov 7 as a date for the second round of the election.

Karzai had been under intense pressure from his government's Western allies for the past several days to accept that outcome and face the runoff vote, with his top challenger former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Last updated on Oct 20^th, 2009 at 18:40 pm IST--DPA

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