Middle East, Vote Fraud | featured news

Afghanistan's election fraud watchdog said on Sunday it is probing 567 allegations of abuse it considers serious enough to affect the outcome of the Aug 20 vote, more than double the number announced two days ago.

The parliament speaker says a commission found no evidence of sexual assault.

A day after vowing to investigate allegations that election protesters were sexually abused in Iran's prisons, the parliament speaker dismissed the charges as false.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to put the turmoil over the disputed presidential elections behind him and declared on national television that the contests were clean, fair and were the start of a new era.

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday.

Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad celebrated Tuesday after Iran's highest electoral authority proclaimed the validity of its disputed election, paving the way for the incumbent to begin a second term despite claims of fraud.

Iran began recounting some of the votes cast in its disputed presidential election Monday in an apparent attempt to placate opposition protesters.

A conservative candidate in Iran's disputed presidential election said Wednesday that he was withdrawing his complaints about voting fraud for the sake of the country, state television reported.

Iran's Guardian Council ruled out the possibility of nullifying the results of the country's disputed presidential election, saying irregularities were reported before the balloting -- not during or after.

Iran's supreme leader passionately defended last week's presidential election process today, praising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election as a "definitive victory" and denying charges of vote-rigging.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders a high-level clerical panel to investigate.