KABUL, Afghanistan -- Incumbent Hamid Karzai has been declared the winner of Afghanistan's first direct presidential election, the body organizing the vote has said.
Sultan Baheen, spokesman for the U.N.-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body, said a panel examining allegations of election fraud had ruled that while there were irregularities, they did not materially affect the outcome of the October 9 poll, according to Reuters reports.
Karzai won 55.4 percent of the vote, obtaining the majority needed to avoid a run-off against his nearest rival, former education minister Yunus Qanooni.
The poll was the first to take place since the hardline Taliban regime was ousted in 2001 and was seen as a key step in the post-September 11 U.S. campaign to bring democracy to the region.
Excellent.
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