Schröder's Kabul Visit Sparks Criticism

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder arrived in Afghanistan on Monday amid criticisms that his whistle-stop tour, which will be spent predominantly in the company of Hamid Karzai, the man expected to be named the country's first freely elected president, shows bias.

Schröder landed in Kabul just two days after Afghanistan's first ever democratic elections on Saturday and his itinerary for the six hour tour, apart from visits to schools supported by German charities and institutions and German troops serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), is dominated by talks with the US- and Pakistan-blessed interim Afghan President. There are no plans to meet with any other of the nominees or politicians involved in the weekend's historic vote.

It was intended to be a visit to show German support for the democratization and stabilization efforts of a land that has suffered almost 20 years of civil war and the rule of the radical Taliban regime. Instead, Schröder found himself in the firing line of critics which claim his visit was evidence of the favoritism offered to Karzai by western leaders.

Germany has decided winner, says candidate

While Karzai is expected to make history by becoming Afghanistan's first democratically president when the official announcement comes on October 30, one opposition candidate, Mohammad Mahfuz Nedahi, told reporters that Schröder's agenda shows that Germany has already decided how the vote has gone and has shown its true colors. "Germany supports US policy one hundred percent," he said on Sunday night.

Another, Abdul Latif Pedram, echoed Nedahi's complaints saying that Europe should been seen as supporting the democratic process and not a single nominee. A candidate who did not want to be named added that Schröder should not have come to Kabul "in such a sensitive situation." Others have expressed confusion over Schröder's timing as the election is over and his support now can achieve little.

Schröder lauds courageous vote

Despite the criticism, Schröder has said that the peaceful process of voting and the high voter turnout suggests that the people of Afghanistan have shown great courage in pursuing democracy and stability.

As the debate rages over whether irregularities in the election had undermined the process, Afghan election officials agreed on Sunday to create an independent commission to probe opposition charges of fraud in the presidential poll.

Threat of boycott averted by probe

Originally, all 15 challengers announced they would boycott the outcome in the immediate aftermath of revelations that supposedly indelible ink used to mark voters' thumbs in some polling stations could be rubbed off, allowing some people to vote more than once.

However two candidates have since backed off, saying they wanted a commission to rule on whether the voting was fair and indicating they would accept its decision.

"There is going to be an independent commission made to investigate it," electoral director Farooq Wardak said in a statement. "There could be mistakes; we are just human beings. My colleagues might have made a mistake."

An American delegation observing the election showed Karzai with a clear majority of votes and his principal challenger, Yonus Qanooni, a former Cabinet minister, running a distant second. Karzai needs a majority to avoid a runoff vote.