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Leading Presidential Challenger Says Will Form Coalition With Other Candidates
Mohammad Yunos Qanuni, who is regarded as the main challenger to the frontrunner Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai in the upcoming presidential election, said in a speech on 4 October in Mazar-e Sharif that 14 candidates will withdraw their nominations and will back one candidate, Hindukosh News Agency reported. Qanuni said that he was in complete agreement with Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Satar Sirat, Mohammad Mohaqeq, and Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai that "if not in the first round, we will definitely form a coalition in the second round." Qanuni dismissed the rumors that the international community, led by the United States, was supporting Karzai's candidacy, adding that in his talks with the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and other countries' envoys in Kabul, he has been assured of their "support for the decision of the [Afghan] people in the election." Qanuni could force a runoff if no other candidate wins at least 51 percent of the vote. (Amin Tarzi)
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