Afghan rivals clinch deal, easing political crisis

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By BRADLEY KLAPPER

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's two rival candidates reached a breakthrough agreement Saturday to a complete audit of their contested presidential election and, whoever the victor, a national unity government.

The deal, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, offers a path out of what threatened to be a debilitating political crisis for Afghanistan, with both candidates claiming victory and talking of setting up competing governments.

Such a scenario could have dangerously split the fragile country's government and security forces at a time the U.S. is pulling out most of its troops and the Taliban continues to wage a fierce insurgency.

Instead, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah agreed to abide by a 100 percent, internationally supervised audit of all 8 million ballots in the presidential election. They vowed to form a national unity government once the results are announced, presumably one that includes members of each side.

FULL story at link.


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, left, at the start of a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, July 11, 2014. Kerry sought Friday to broker a deal between Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates as a bitter dispute over last month's runoff election risked spiraling out of control.(AP Photo/Jim Bourg, Pool)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140712/as-united-states-afghanistan-0ee63744d2.html

[Fred Sanders]

1. A tremendous achievement of American diplomacy, to be buried by the corporate press as soon as

possible.