Afghan candidate Ghani pulls observers from election audit

Reuters
Afghanistan's presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani (L) and Abdullah Abdullah (R) shake hands after announcing a deal for the auditing of all Afghan election votes at the United Nations Compund in Kabul, July 12, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani pulled his observers from a U.N.-supervised audit of votes on Wednesday after rival candidate Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the process, a senior member of Ghani's team said. "Although it seems sort of unfair ... politically it seemed more prudent," said Daoud Sultanzoy, adding that the United Nations had asked that Ghani's observer leave the process, in the interest of fairness. The Independent Election Commission will continue the audit, Sultanzoy said. (Reporting By Krista Mahr; Editing by Robert Birsel)