26/11 case: Pak declares Kasab an 'absconder'

A Pakistani anti-terror court, conducting the trial of seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks has declared 14 other accused, including Ajmal Kasab, as "absconders" and adjourned the matter till November 7.

During Saturday's proceedings, Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan declared 14 other suspects linked to the attacks - including Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive by Indian authorities during the strikes -- as "absconders," sources said.

Details of the other 13 were not immediately available.

Khwaja Sultan, the lawyer representing LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi -- one of the seven suspects arrested by Pakistani authorities, said that Judge Awan adjourned the case till next Saturday.

Saturday's proceedings were dominated by reservations expressed by the accused over the manner in which they were indicted during a hearing held on October 10.

Judge Baqir Ali Rana, who was earlier conducting the trial, had formally charged the accused in the absence of their lawyers.

The accused, who have declined to plead guilty or not guilty, today again protested about the manner in which they were charged, sources said.


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Abdullah 'to boycott Afghan vote'

Abdullah Abdullah, President Hamid Karzai's main rival in the second round of Afghanistan's presidential election, is reportedly set to abandon the poll.

A senior adviser to Mr Abdullah told the BBC he was being forced to withdraw because of concerns that the vote would be as fraudulent as the first round.

He has called for the dismissal of the head of the Afghan Independent Election Commission, a demand Mr Karzai rejects.

Hundreds of thousands of votes were discounted from August's first round.

The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission's (ECC) action meant Mr Karzai's total was reduced to below the 50% plus one vote threshold for outright victory, indicating a run-off poll was needed.

'Nothing has changed'

The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says rumours have begun to circulate in the capital that President Karzai's only opponent in the second round election scheduled for 7 November may pull out.


The fact is that the infrastructure of this fraud is still there
Ahmed Wali Massoud
Senior Adviser to Abdullah Abdullah

It is not confirmed, but Saturday is the deadline that Mr Abdullah has set for a series of "minimum conditions" for holding a relatively fair and free contest to be accepted, our correspondent says.

These include the closure of many polling stations, and the sacking of the head of the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC), Azizullah Lodin, within five days, he adds.

On Monday, the former foreign minister said Mr Lodin had "no credibility". Mr Lodin denies allegations that he favoured Mr Karzai.

One of Mr Abdullah's senior advisers, Ahmed Wali Massoud, said was unhappy that nothing had been done to redress the electoral system's problems.


KARZAI V ABDULLAH
Hamid Karzai:
First popularly elected president of Afghanistan
Opposed Soviet occupation in 1980s
Critics say he has done little to rein in corruption
Abdullah Abdullah:
Tajik-Pashtun, doctor by profession
Senior Northern Alliance leader during Taliban rule
Removed from Karzai's cabinet in 2006

Profile: Hamid Karzai
Profile: Abdullah Abdullah

"The fact is that the infrastructure of this fraud is still there. Almost 1.5 million votes were rigged. Nothing has changed," he told the BBC.

"So if you go back and do the second round election, it means that it will happen again. So, therefore, I don't think that we would be willing to participate."

An announcement might come as early as Saturday but was more likely on Sunday, people close to Mr Abdullah told the Associated Press.

Earlier, the Independent Election Commission announced that it planned to open 6,322 polling stations for the run-off - more than it did during the first round.

The Electoral Complaints Commission had recommended cutting the number from 6,000 to about 5,800 - to make sure there would be enough monitors to limit fraud and troops to ensure security.


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UN to boost Afghanistan security

Mr Ban said Afghanistan was the most dangerous place for UN staff

The UN Security Council has backed a call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for more protection for UN staff and facilities in Afghanistan.

The move followed Wednesday's attack by militants on a guesthouse in Kabul, in which five UN employees were killed.

Mr Ban said the mission in Afghanistan would continue, but that UN staff were widely regarded as being a soft target.

The Taliban has vowed to disrupt next week's presidential election run-off, which is being overseen by the UN.

But the Security Council said the violence should not be allowed to derail the vote.

'More effective protection'

Mr Ban said he would make an appeal for security officers on Friday to the 192-member General Assembly, which controls the budget.

Speaking to reporters after briefing the Security Council in New York, Mr Ban said he had appealed for more security personnel in Afghanistan to meet the "dramatically escalated threat to UN staff now widely considered to be a soft target".

"Increasingly, the UN is being targeted, in this case precisely because of our support for the Afghan elections," he added.

Mr Ban said Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan had become the most dangerous places on the planet for UN staff.

Among the short-term measures that would be implemented in Afghanistan was the consolidation of UN workers spread across the country, he added.

The secretary general also said there would also be a special focus on areas outside Kabul, where security was "clearly insufficient".

The UN is also believed to be considering bringing in security personnel from other UN missions, and hiring more guards locally.

Mr Ban said that although the primary responsibility for the safety and security of UN staff lay with the Afghan government, it was not their responsibility alone.

"We need the support of the member states. We must realistically assess the situation and put in place more effective protections for our staff as they perform their crucial task," he added.

There are 6,700 people working for the UN mission, funds and programmes in Afghanistan, including 1,100 international staff and 5,600 local staff.

A unanimous statement issued by the Security Council later on Thursday approved the measures taken by the secretary general and stressed the need to ensure security for UN personnel "and its support to this end".

'Heroism'

The vulnerability of the UN mission was evident on Wednesday, when three Taliban militants dressed as policemen and wearing explosive vests attacked the Bekhtar guesthouse in Kabul's Shar-i-Naw district, killing five UN staff, two Afghan security guards and a civilian.

Mr Ban said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the "heroism" of the security guards attached to the UN mission.

"They were armed only with pistols against assailants carrying automatic weapons and grenades and wearing suicide vests," he said.

A Taliban spokesman said it was the "first attack" in the run-up to the second round of the presidential election on 7 November, in which President Hamid Karzai will face Abdullah Abdullah.

The Security Council statement condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and commended the "determination of the United Nations not to be deterred by the tragic incident and to carry on its mission in Afghanistan".

The elections "should be carried out as scheduled with the continuous support of the United Nations", it added.

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