Word: fraud
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...scandal named for the Luxembourg financial clearinghouse where 89 French politicians, businesspeople and public figures purportedly held accounts containing illegal kickback money from arms sales. A list of those names - including Sarkozy's - was brought to Villepin's attention in 2004, but was later deemed to be a fraud by a top French spy called in to vet it. A Villepin intimate has testified he sent the list to a justice official convinced it was authentic, and that it wasn't until later that he learned the list was definitely a fake. What the judge overseeing the trial must...
...election commission also decided to fire or replace some 200 district election workers, out of 380, whose stations had been implicated in fraud, another positive step that is likely to restore some faith in the process, even if doing so adds to the already considerable logistical difficulties involved. But for many, it is not enough. Both the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) - U.S.-based democracy-support NGOs that sent observers to the initial round of voting - cite a need for enhanced security, better monitoring at each station and greater regulation of the use of state resources...
...fresh warning by the Taliban on Oct. 24 asking Afghans to boycott next month's presidential election runoff, both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and rival Abdullah Abdullah launched the second round of their campaigns, the first step toward bringing resolution to an election that has been mired in fraud and controversy. But will Afghans overcome their suspicions and security fears in order to turn out in enough numbers to bestow legitimacy on this next round...
Election observers have asked for more such stations to be closed, citing fears of continued abuses, but they also recognize the need to balance rural areas' right to vote with the risk of fraud. Haroun Mir, director of Afghanistan's Center for Research and Policy Studies, says such an approach risks alienating the very people whom a new President needs most to ensure his legitimacy. "If the Independent Election Commission doesn't open sites where the Taliban is strong, they are telling the Pashtuns in the south that your vote doesn't count," he says...
Most Afghans, however, say the efforts at fraud prevention will be worthless if people don't turn out to vote. Safora el-Khani, a Member of Parliament from Bamiyan, the mountainous center of Afghanistan, points out that for many parts of her district, which is largely inhabited by a minority ethnic group, it is already too late. Winter arrives early in the mountains of Afghanistan, and heavy snowfall will make it impossible for voters to get to the polls or for ballots to make it back to Kabul for tabulation. "We will not have access to some polling stations...