In an interview with the Washington Post, Atta Mohammed Noor, Governor of Balkh, has gone all civil war again.
A powerful Afghan governor and former militia leader, who had threatened mass protests in the wake of the disputed presidential runoff in June, warned Wednesday of a “civil uprising” if the ongoing ballot recount proves biased and his candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, is not named the winner.
Attah Mohammed Noor, 50, had not been seen in public since the election controversy and was rumored to have fled Afghanistan. He came to the capital Wednesday and said he had been away undergoing surgery for shrapnel wounds suffered during the Afghan-Soviet conflict.
Key Abdullah ally warns of Afghan unrest if vote recount is ‘one-sided’, Washington Post
Noor had previously gone all civil war in a Facebook post, back in July.
Noor had recently left Afghanistan, for his health.
Noor said Thursday that reports published by certain media agencies suggesting his resignation from Balkh Government Headquarters, are baseless.
He criticized the media agencies for intentionally broadcasting baseless reports while “following their vicious news agendas.”
Noor said he has temporarily moved outside the country due to some health issues and vowed to stand by the side of the Afghan people upon his return.
Ata Mohammad Noor dismiss reports regarding his resignation, Khaama
On returning, and the day of his going all civil war again in the
Washington Post, Noor held meetings with the U.N. and the U.S.
Gov. Atta also met Thursday with Jan Kubis, the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, and Amb. James Cunningham, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Amb. Cunningham "reiterated that threats of violence are damaging and that resorting to extra-constitutional means would threaten the ability of the United States to provide any assistance to Afghanistan," said a U.S. government official familiar with the discussions but not authorized to speak on the record.
Afghan Election Rivals Hit New Snags, Wall Street Journal
This talk, by former mujahedin, of going to war if they should lose the election, has a history.
The First Vic-President of Afghanistan Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim warned about ignoring the Mujahidin in the upcoming round of presidency and said, ignoring Mujahidin is the resume of civil war in Afghanistan.
Fahim, If Mujahidin Are Ignored, I Will Take Gun and Will Climb Mountain, Bost News
Many Afghans say such talk is mostly bluster by aging warlords. But there is genuine concern that a poor showing by former mujahedin in April's national elections could trigger cries of fraud and a return to the savage civil warfare of the early 1990s.
Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley awaits the next fight with the Taliban, Los Angeles Times
Six thousand ballot boxes are to be recounted, half selected by each side. The recount is different than the internationally-supervised audit.
The recount of votes from 6,000 ballot boxes specially picked by the presidential candidates began on Saturday. The outcome of the recount is expected to be the basis for the final results of this year's election, a process that has now dragged on for over four months.
The candidates and election officials hope that the recount, which will proceed simultaneously to the comprehensive vote audit that began over a week ago, will help bring a conclusion to the election process sooner than previously expected.
IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor on Saturday said that each candidate chose 3,000 ballot boxes reprinting polling sites around the country. It is expected that the candidates focused their selections on sites that each believed to have been originally miscounted in favor of their opponent.
"This process is part of the regular process, and there is not much difference," Noor said.
Decisive 6,000 Ballot Recount Begins, Tolo
Washington Post says that Ashraf Ghani says he will not share power.
Ashraf Ghani, one of two candidates competing to become Afghanistan’s president, said Tuesday that the deadline to finish a vote recount is slipping and that a U.S.-brokered agreement for the rivals to form a joint government afterward does not mean the winner will fully share power with the loser.
Ashraf Ghani rejects sharing power if he wins Afghan presidential recount, Washington Post
Tolo says that Ashraf Ghani says he will share power, but not divide it.
"Division of power in a traditional manner is saying that this ministry is yours and these are ours and you don't have the right to ask about this province and I don't have the right to ask about your ministries. In this case division is not the matter; this is a power share system, which will facilitate political sharing to end war."
People Do Not Want an Uprising: Ghani, Tolo
Washington Post, in reporting what Ashraf Ghani has said, somewhat different than the details of what Ashraf Ghani says, also says that Afghans are confused by the details.
Many Afghans are confused about the nature of the unprecedented joint-governing agreement made under pressure from the United States as the election process was rapidly collapsing.
Ashraf Ghani rejects sharing power if he wins Afghan presidential recount, Washington Post
Ashraf Ghani, ahead in raw ballots, would like the audit to be speedy.
Abdullah Abdullah, behind in raw ballots, would like the audit to be thorough.
The U.S. and the U.N. would like the audit to be both speedy and thorough.
U.S. and U.N. officials want the ballot recount to be both thorough and speedy, in the hope that it will end the nation’s power vacuum, help cement a new security pact with the United States and help Afghanistan obtain new aid from NATO countries.
Ashraf Ghani rejects sharing power if he wins Afghan presidential recount, Washington Post
But the U.S. and NATO also want a winner selected in time for the September 4 NATO meeting in Wales. Which is coming up pretty speedy.
“Time is now of the essence and that is why we urge the Afghans to find a rapid conclusion of the presidential election process, and we urge the new president to sign the legal arrangements as soon as possible after inauguration,” [NATO Secretary-General] Rasmussen told Reuters.
Political talks begin as pressure grows for Afghan election resolution, Reuters
And also pretty quickly.
"The budgetary and economic situation is another reason to quickly conclude the election audit and install a new government of national unity that is capable of addressing Afghanistan's challenges," the U.S. State Department official added.
Afghanistan running out of cash as poll deadlock drags on, Reuters