US congratulates Karzai on 'historic' re-election

The United States congratulated Hamid Karzai on his “historic” re-election as Afghan president and looks forward to working with him, the American embassy in Kabul said in a statement Monday.

“We congratulate President Karzai on his victory in this historic election and look forward to working with him, his new administration, the Afghan people and our partners in the international community to support Afghanistan’s progress towards institutional reforms, security and prosperity,” it said.

The statement also welcomed the decision by the country’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) not to hold a run-off election this weekend after Karzai’s only challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of the contest.

“We appreciate that the IEC has taken this decision according to its mandate under Afghan law,” it said.—AFP