Kofi Annan congratulates Hamid Karzai on election win

UNITED NATION, Nov 3 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Wednesday congratulated Hamid Karzai for his victory in Afghanistan's first presidential election and wished him success.
"The secretary general extends to President Karzai his sincere congratulations and wishes him well as he addresses the challenges that still remain in Afghanistan's path to lasting peace, stability and economic recovery," Fred Eckhard, a spokesman for Annan, said in a statement.
"The secretary general congratulates the people and the government of Afghanistan, as well as the Joint Electoral Management Body, for having conducted a successful and credible election under such difficult circumstances," it said.
After 25 days of counting and verifying ballots, the joint election commission Wednesday proclaimed Karzai the winner of the October 9 election in a single round with 55.4 percent of the vote.
Karzai's election was marred, however, by the kidnapping of three UN elections workers on October 28.
A group claiming to hold the hostages has threatened to kill them unless Afghans held in US-run prisons are released.

11/03/2004 19:10 GMT - AFP