Preliminary results hand Karzai victory in Afghan election

Final preliminary results have been released today declaring Hamid Karzai as the winner of the presidential election in Afghanistan.

The incumbent president is reported to have won 54.6 per cent of the vote, with his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah winning 27.8 per cent.

The preliminary results also declare an overall turnout in the historic elections of 38.7 per cent.

In theory the results represent a complete tally of votes. However, the official announcement is not due to be made for another couple of weeks.

Allegations of vote-rigging and corruption have dogged the Afghan election held last month.

The Taliban declared it would continually attempt to disrupt the elections, while the west has desperately attempted to minimise violence and disorder in an attempt to portray an improving security and democratic situation in Afghanistan.

The European Union has already suggested, however, that over a million of the votes cast in last month's election may be fraudulent.