Afghan election frontrunner releases audio to 'prove' fraud claims

The campaign team of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday released audio recordings which they said contained evidence of fraud against a senior member of the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC).
      
The accusation came as hundreds of Abdullah's supporters held protests against alleged irregularities for a second day across Kabul, as a political stalemate deepens in the country.
      
Abdullah won the first round of the poll to succeed President Hamid Karzai, gaining 45 percent of the vote while his nearest rival Ashraf Ghani won 31.6 percent.
      
But he has boycotted the vote count after the second round run-off, accusing Karzai of interfering to favour his rival.
      
The dispute threatens to pitch Afghanistan into crisis as NATO combat troops withdraw from a 13-year war against Taliban insurgents.
      
A smooth election was seen as a key benchmark for the US-led coalition that has fought against the Taliban and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001.
      
The allegations are centred around the secretary of the IEC, Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, who stands accused of irregularities during the transporting of unused ballots during the June 14 poll.
      
Abdullah's team at a press confeence released the recordings, which total 13 minutes of poor-quality audio and purport to be conversations between Amarkhail, other IEC officials and "a member of Ghani's team".
      
They include Amarkhail allegedly reassuring the member of Ghani's team that staff would be "used" to favour his election.        

In one recording, Amarkhail allegedly tells an IEC member from the northwestern province of Faryab to...