dr. abdullah. ir all these reasons, and have seen some polls lately that put him closer to the front runners then you mentioned. he may actually be a viable candidate, even though much of the narrative suggests he could not be. disagree with the question, but i want to put it to a point. what ise elections, equally important to the actual process is the perception of the public. people currently see him as a candidate, a team on the low margins. them being elevated to the level of dr. abdullah and ashraf ghani or even above them will raise serious questions. >> i would pause. that is very true of the educated elite and of kabul. is equally true across the south and east. it could be, i am not saying it is not. i think there will be questions. i would also point out that dr. abdullah and ashraf ghani are making an effort to say that if dr. rassoul gets into the second round, it is automatically evidence of fraud. i think we as americans should not accept that which is a campaign ploy in advance. of

the presidency. >> now, the size of the crowd is unnecessarily a reflection of the support for dr abdullahullah in herat, it shows the enthusiasm and interest in the process in afghanistan. abdullah abdullah crisscrossed the country on a mission to right a wrong he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009, when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> this time around the citizens will monitor the elections better. the voters are more aware of their rights. it's much better conscious decision than it used to be. and they are asking about the outcome. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get more than 50% of the vote to win outright. to help his chances he has chosen two runnirun mates he fought against, the parties they belonged too destroyed kabul. without a winner the election goes to a run-off between the top two candidates. abdullah abdullah has a warning for the election organizers. >> if it goes to a run-off, it's on the boots of the people. if it goes to the run-off. that will be difficult. it will be an uncertain situation. i hope tha

commander general joseph was accused of brutal killings in the civil war the nineteen nineties dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as a war like the other links to eat i went in search of mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go to this whole process again. of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway one but talabani deal it happens and whether security holes. if the debt run up to. i was artsy course on at least half a knot. as western forces prepare to pull out of afghanistan thousands of innocent child victims remain according to the un five hundred and sixty one children were killed in afghanistan's war in twenty thirteen. nearly twelve hundred were wounded when a man is an afghan girl ha

commander general joseph was accused of brutal killings in the civil war the nineteen nineties dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as a warlord. the other links to a violent insurgent group mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again. of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway. what will that olive unto you if that happens whether security behold. if the debt run up to us. one of the main cause next the deck is pinching security pact with washington which young calming presence cause i have had hanging in there and the us is now winding down its combat mission on the proposed deal could lead to fifteen thousand troops on the ground for decades. cause i was reluc

i knew very well dr abdullah abdullah. he was a right hand man of massued. dr abdullah abdullah, among other things helped to translate what was being said to me. he is a dignified, smart, educated man, i think he would be great for that country. >> as you know, we were told by our leaders after 9/11 that the goal was to wipe out al qaeda and the taliban in afghanistan. is that still a possibility? or has the taliban going to come back into power? >> well, being in afghanistan gave us a platform to really pummel al qaeda. betty june binnicker is dead, a lot -- osama bin laden is dead, a lot of his top developers are dead. we mould them, we couldn't have down that. the taliban - interesting thing about the taliban is while we were there, we were an object of dislike potentially by the locals. now that we are gone, when the taliban attack a government post, they are not attacking americans any more. they are attacking fellow muslims who elected the government. the taliban are saying "you don't get to choose who leads you", it makes it hard for the taliban to a

dr. abdullah one percent. >> 20 presenting, 19% -- >> 27% versus 8%.his is a fear a lot of people in afghanistan have. if zalmai rassoul is somehow hehed to the second round or becomes the candidate that gets the second highest number of that in the first round, will raise a lot of questions. the polls have constantly shown his low level of support. and it is highly likely the elections will go to a second round. considering the composition of the teams that we have. , there are some accusations among pashtuns because he sided with dostum, considered to have war crimes -- to have committed a war crime atrocities. on his team, he managed to vastly increase his constituency. in the 2009 presidential elections, ashraf ghani managed of votes.around 3% this time, it is mainly because of dostum he has risen up. mainly because of dostum. nd dr. abdullah, as ambassador nuemann said, he has a lot of support among tajiks

this is where the american people can be proud of their progress, and the leading candidates, dr abdullah abdullah, and others have made it clear they are prepared to sign a bilateral security agreement with the united states and condition the partnership and friendship. i'm very optimistic. >> let's make predictions about the election. michael says the only thing we can confidently predict is that it will happen:. >> you have been to afghanistan - corruption, will we see this. >> you'll see everything you mentioned. the question is what is the outgrowth of the results. because this is such a wide number of - it will be hard for one guy to stuff all the ballot boxes. there's patronage, people paying up and down the chain of command so to speak. everyone benefits, it doesn't change the fact they'll go to the polls. the taliban is trying to disrupt this. they have been successful getting rid of international observers. part of the problem is we have only secured the urban areas. most of the afghan people do not read or write. they are completely outside the sphere of where we set up the sec

. >> afghanistan on the campaign trail with dr abdullah abdullah, one of the frontrunners in the presidential election. >> welcome back. our top stories on al jazeera. about 600 people have been arrested in a crackdown on refugees in the kenyan capital nairobi. in mombasa, a prominent muslim cleric shot dead by unknown gunmen has been buried. >> five have been killed in chile after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the region, it triggered a tsunami. >> protesters rallied in support of a congress woman removed from office in venezuela. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry cancelled a planned trip to the middle east to mediate ongoing talks, coming after the palestine president signed treaties pushing for international recognition. people in bethlehem welcomed the move. israel want a delay until talks had happened. mahmoud abbas said he made the decision after israel failed to carry out a promised release of palestine prisoners. >> live to stefanie dekker, from ramallah in the occupied west bank. tell us about the reactions, and what precisely the palestinians have signed up to. >> well, a g

dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate who's been branded as a warlord the other linked to a violent insurgent group and mr karzai is former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite pick appears to be running behind but again it will take time to get the official count this is just based on the preliminary results and of course what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again and of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway what will the taliban do if that happens and whether security will hold if the runoff does take place. one of the main tosspot gonna stand next leader is clinching a security pact with washington which the outgoing president karzai has left hanging in there the u.s. is now winding down its calm but the mission of the proposed deal could leave fifteen thousand troops on the ground for another decade because i was reluctant to sign the deal over the continued kil

dr. abdullah, in the anti-soviet period and the anti-taliban movement, as a civilian assistant and advisor, and then turned minister of foreign affairs in 2001 and then left government in 2006 and became the opposition leader in 2009 and decided not to go into the runoff. then you have the foreign minister and national security advisor who came from the former kings camp in rome and was associated with hamid karzai and considered as the person probably closest to hamid karzai and probably someone who has his blessing. i think the preliminary assessments made over the past 48 hours show that they seem to be heading the pack. that mesul is trailing, that he may not be able to go into the second round. i am speculating, but this is based on preliminary results that we see. either there will be a runoff all the way to the end, or that in between there will be a political arrangement. a coalition would be built, a government of national unity would be formed, and they will agree on sharing power. the other question is with president karzai leaving office and seeming to want to exercise some lev

dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate who's been branded as a warlord the other linked to a violent insurgent group and mr karzai is former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite pick appears to be running behind but again it will take time to get the official count this is just based on the preliminary results and of course what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again and of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway what will the taliban do if that happens and whether security will hold if the runoff does take place. that was our correspondent lucy kavanagh off. all right as western forces prepared to pull out of afghanistan thousands of innocent child victims remain according to the u.n. five hundred and sixty one children were killed in afghanistan's war and twenty thirteen nearly twelve hundred were wounded one of them is an afghan girl who had her arm blown off by a ta

general joe stand accused of brutal killings in the civil war of the nineteen nineties next is dr abdullah abdullah the runner up in the fraud riddled two thousand nine collection. one of his vice presidential picks is backed by a leader of the notorious insurge militia leader has been accused of human rights abuses. low profile candidate from iris who is a long time technocrats and karzai's government the outgoing leader has not publicly endorsed anyone i pursue this talented as his top choice the president's brothers have campaigned for a school raising worries about interference the other candidates have long odds but their pasts have also raised some eyebrows. the film are still so young office known as the man who bought the lot into afghanistan the hardline islam is the former the warlord. now that the country's most powerful anti top envoy says that two decades ago she was the manager of a who's who list of most notorious terrorists osama bin laden's week shaikh muhammad. finally america's once favourite warlords who are pressures on friday. nicknamed the bulldozer for his ruthlessl

general joe stand accused of brutal killings in the civil war of the nineteen nineties next is dr abdullah to allow the runner up in the fraud riddled two thousand nine collection. one of his vice presidential picks is backed by a leader of the notorious insurgent group the other is a former militia leader has been accused of human rights abuses. low profile candidates are my own who is a long time technocrats in karzai's government the outgoing leader has not publicly endorsed anyone who is talented as his top choice the dorsal side office known as the man who brought the model to afghanistan hardline islam is the former to potty warlord. now that the country's most powerful anti calvinist was this finally there was a brutal warlords who shares the night nicknamed the bulldozer for his ruthlessly efficient way of getting things done whoever wins the world of work ahead. if you did dependent economy is likely to take a hit with the departure of foreign troops. corruption is pervasive. talabani are still waging an insurgency was the captain of our team the stock the total sum of the cheat o

dr. abdullah abdullah, came in second to karzai.nd abdullah is the most prominent tajc candidate at this point. and it will do very well in the first round. the question is, in a country where the majority of the population are ethnic posh tunes, will abdullah and tajc be able to win the election. that seems unlikely. >> so you have one candidate favored by karzai, the one trailing in the polls, and a vice presidential candidate that's a woman. >> reporter: yeah, karzai has not publicly articulated any preference. there is widespread perception that he's favoring dr. sewell, his former foreign minister. but it's unclear exactly what that preference would mean, if it, in fact, is true. but rasual is a french educated physician, would be an historic thing in afghanistan. according to the polls, which, of course, aren't precise in afghanistan. he is in a distant third. >> if one of these candidates comes into power, is there a difference in policy likely that will keep u.s. troops on the ground longer? >> you know, it's been a bit of a

how that will actually happen at this point the two front front runners pardon me appear to be dr abdullah abdullah i should stress that this is based on preliminary an official tallies by news organizations here he's a former world bank executive who has picked an extremely controversial running mate a man that even he described as a known killer militia commander general who was accused of brutal killings in the civil war of the one nine hundred ninety s. . also has a running mate who's been branded as a warlord the other linked to a violent insurgent group and mr karzai is former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite pick appears to be running behind but again it will take time to get the official count this is just based on the preliminary results and of course what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan. could go through this whole process again and of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway what will the taliban

dr. abdullah abdullah former foreign minister is the front-runner. no sign of vetting at all and jane harman, director and ceo of the wilson center in washington. why should u.s. troops stay past this year given the hostility still there, longest war in u.s. history and still so many folks over there hate americans. >> that's true, wolf and they shouldn't. by the way, where's the outrage of the killing of the three doctors, two doctors and one of their sons? where's president karzai's apology after a trillion u.s. dollars and thousands of u.s. lives have been lost trying to save his country? i think it is despicable. where is the outrage of our government at a higher level than a spokesperson? i understand the president is in asia. this is absolutely abhorrent. the risk is if we leave, it is surely possible it goes back to a training ground for the taliban and then we are stuck with the same threats to our -- >> so what was done for the last 12 years, 13 years or so was for naught? >> i help the answer to that is no. abdullah abdullah the front-runne

dr. abdullah abdullah and rasual. all three have promised to improve the relationship with the united states and the international community and they have all promised to sign the bilateral security agreement with the united states, something that president karzai has refused to do, and it's been a real source of tension between the united states and afghanistan, but all of the main candidates here have promised to sign that agreement, and once that agreement is signed, the pentagon can then announce how many troops they would leave here in afghanistan. the rough estimate, uma, is that there would be roughly 10,000 or 12,000 american troops here in afghanistan to help train the afghan security forces and to provide counterterrorism support. that can't all be announced and decided until this election is wrapped up. there is still concern, uma, that there are chances for some ballot stuffing and some fraud. we saw a lot of that in 2009, but at least so far what we've seen today is that it's been a very good election, bu

dr. abdullah abdullah; he served as foreign minister after the ouster of the taliban. >> ( translated ): today's event can be the beginning of the democratic process in the history of afghanistan and one step ahead toward a better future. >> warner: abdullah got nearly 30% against karzai in 2009 in an election marred by fraud, ballot-box stuffing and official corruption; by some accounts, more than a million of the 4.5 million votes cast were deemed fraudulent. at a dramatic gathering of his supporters in november that year, abdullah withdrew from the run-off against karzai, saying the fix was in. now some early unofficial estimates from this election show abdullah with a lead. others show ghani ahead. so far, there aren't reports of the sort-of brazen fraud that marred 2009's vote, though all three leading campaigns have leveled some charges of improprieties. in washington today, white house spokesman jay carney insisted the u.s. doesn't have a favorite. >> we don't have a preferred candidate because the future of afghanistan is up to the afghans to decide. we look forward to a producti

up next is dr abdullah abdullah the runner up in the fraud riddled two thousand election but one of his vice presidential picks is backed by a leader of the notorious insurgent group the other is a former militia leader who's been accused of human rights abuses low profile candidates who is a longtime technocrat and karzai government the outgoing leader has not publicly endorsed anyone. as his top choice. is known as the man who brought bin laden to afghanistan a hardline islamist and a former jihadi warlord although now one of the country's most powerful anti taliban voices finally america's favorite warlord. nicknamed the bulldozer for his ruthlessly efficient way of getting things done whoever wins has a world of work ahead this aid to dependent economy is likely to take a hit with the departure of foreign troops corruption is pervasive and the taliban are still. afghanistan thousands of civilians have also been killed since nato started its ongoing twelve year long intervention aimed at putting the putting down the taliban insurgency lucy and some of the people whose lives have been

one percent the next leader will face huge security challenges with the taliban staging attacks dr abdullah told us there's little hope of the insurgency dying down after western forces though with drawl. to think that if the u.s. troops leave to date bin tomato the peace and taliban will to go now there is no reason for doubt terrorist activities that suddenly luzhin or disillusionment so it's a reality unfortunately that the world continues needs to be a consolation process but at the same time the citizens of afghanistan should be assured that the headlights will be put in afghanistan is much bit out of then it used to be before two thousand and one upon a stand is a rich country potentially a rich country the terms of macs are just so says it's a trade in transit location that easier than if it is utilized in the best way so it's it decries multi-faceted development and program in order to move on and take off on a stone problem meanwhile the us is running to end its more than twelve year long mission in afghanistan and some in washington saying military hardware should be destroyed or

dr. abdullah were to win, of course his associate with the northern alliance committee has been made to india and potentially hostile to pakistan. is this really an issue need to think about not only is the choice for the afghan people, but a big choice in terms of implications for afghan pakistani relations, or is it too soon to say and there's a lot of levers of influence both sides have available, that we would have available, that would allow us to work with whatever outcome. how do you see afghan pakistani relations going into the two likely scenarios, bonnie were abdullah? >> i think the first question needs to be answered local afghan politics look like under the leader abdullah or asha dione. i was struck by imagining this system and is associated with ashfaq gilani and abdullah and whatever will they can imagine in the internal government or if turnout relations lined up ultimately very hampered by very difficult politics and already moves we have seen from ashfaq gilani, reaching out to posh to power brokers who are unhappy with the way he is for vice president are very much indicat

dr. abdullah, in the anti-soviet period and the anti-taliban movement, as a civilian assistant and advisor, and then turned minister of foreign affairs in 2001 and then and government in 2006 became the opposition leader in 2000 nine and decided not to go into the runoff. then you have the foreign minister and national security the former came from kings cap in rome and was andciated with hamid karzai considered as the person probably closest to hamid karzai and probably someone who has his blessing. i think the preliminary assessments made over the past 48 hour show that they seem to be heading the pack. mesul is trailing, that he may not be able to go into the second round. i am speculating, but this is based on preliminary we see. either there will be a runoff thathe way to the end, or in between there will be a political arrangement. a coalition would be built, a government of national unity would be formed, and they will agree on sharing power. the other question is with president karzai leaving office and seeming to want to exercise some level of influence in the and have a say about

dr abdullah has been the foreign minister in the past in a country he too has surrounded himself by dubious dubious people and of course whoever wins will have immense challenges ahead the international community had poured billions of dollars into the country under president karzai questions as to whether that level of funding will be there there's economic problems there's corruption there are security challenges and so while the hope is that there will be political change that will translate into meaningful change for people's lives difficult to see how that will actually happen we're losing this point thank you so much for bringing us the latest on the situation in afghanistan especially the vote counting and how it's going and what people implications of this process will be for even when there are a afghanis there's a gulf and they are. there's now an easy route to citizenship and it goes via portugal it's open to anyone willing to spend half million half a million euros on property in the country but while residency for real estate is giving the economy a lift it's also sending house

that was the lovely economist and author dr abdullah four time now for today's big deal. big deal with the one the only mr edward harrison and today we're talking about how greece's economy is getting some greece. anyway i've i understand myself so agrees that it's the first bond sale in four years and it raised three billion euro zone people are hailing this as a triumph now greece is back bet it that's for sure a strong demand has pushed the interest rate on the greek five year bond to four point nine five percent which is lower than expected now the greek government is optimistic about the future and the guardian reports that the deputy prime minister evangelist benny zelo said quote we haven't just been spared from bankruptcy and catastrophe we are once again becoming the greece that we know so edward what are the details behind this auction and what were your ex what were they expecting and when they get well the interesting part is that i think that israel said before that we're going to rush to market we're not no hurry to do this deal and i guess be basically mean

security challenge after the pullout of western forces with the taliban maintaining its insurgency dr abdullah told r.t. what he said that he thinks he's up to the task. to think that if the u.s. troops leave today then tomato the peace and taliban would say whoa now there is no reason for the terrorist activities that suddenly luzhin or disillusionment so. unfortunately that the world continues needs to be a consolation process but at the same time the citizens of afghanistan should be assured that they have lights will be put in afghanistan as much bit of it used to be before two thousand and one upon a stand is a rich country potentially rich country in terms of natural just so it says it's a trade in transit location that easier than if it is utilized in the best way so it's it decries multi-faceted development and program in order to move on and take up on a stone problem the us meanwhile readying to end its more than twelve year long mission in the country and some in washington saying the military hardware being you should be destroyed or he's making lopez reports that some of the equip

dr. rassoul or king abdullah.e won't have the preliminary results until the 28th of april and even then, fareed, it's likely that will will lead to a runoff. that second election probably won't take place until the end of may. >>> anna, i know you were with the americans who were training the afghan national army, and this election has been a success largely because of the security measures put in place. we don't have a lot of time. very briefly, what's your sense of what happens when the americans lead? do you think the afghan national army can stand on its own and deal with things like these elections? >> well, they certainly had an enormous test yesterday and they passed with flying colors. yes, all 350,000 of the afghan national security forces were out to, you know, protect the people at the polling stations, but earlier this week, fareed, we sat down with commander general joseph dunphy. he's in charge of the military operation in afghanistan. he said that the afghans are now running the show. yes, the u.s.