UN envoy says Afghan vote fraud cannot be eliminated

"I do not expect I will be able to eliminate fraud in two weeks' time. I think that is beyond the realm of what is possible in such a short time," Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide said during a NATO meeting of defence ministers in Bratislava.

"But I what I do expect, and what we will try to do, is to reduce the level of fraud."

Incumbent Hamid Karzai this week agreed to the November 7 run-off against Abdullah Abdullah, his former foreign minister. A U.N.-led fraud inquiry invalidated enough of Karzai's votes from the August 20 first round to push him below 50 percent and trigger the second round under Afghan electoral law.

Eide's former deputy Peter Galbraith, who was fired last month, has challenged Eide's credibility, complaining he turned a blind eye towards the extent of the fraud in the August vote.

Eide on Friday called Galbraith a "footnote in the electoral history of Afghanistan." He said he was proud authorities were able to properly detect fraud in the initial round of voting.

The runoff should be able to produce "a legitimately elected president and can form a competent government," Eide said.

But he added more election observers were needed and backed the call by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan for more troops.

Taliban attacks deterred many from voting in August.

"It (security) has not overall improved since we had the initial elections in August ... although in some provinces perhaps (it is) slightly better," he said.