**The head of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) and his deputy have resigned, officials say.**A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said commission president Azizullah Ludin’s tenure had ended and that he did not want to continue in the post.
The commission’s chief electoral officer, Daoud Ali Najafi, has also submitted his resignation.
The resignations follow international pressure over last year’s presidential elections which were marred by fraud.
Mr Karzai won the election but the IEC was criticised for failing to deal with widespread irregularities.
The BBC’s Martin Patience, in Kabul, says the resignations appear to show President Karzai has backed down in his stand-off with Western powers over electoral procedures.
The changes will allay Western concerns of fraud in parliamentary elections planned for September, he adds.
President Karzai’s spokesman said on Wednesday that both resignations had been accepted and new appointments would be made.
A quarter of all votes cast in last August’s election were declared invalid following an investigation by the UN-backed watchdog, the Election Complaints Commission (ECC).
President Karzai - under strong diplomatic pressure - eventually accepted that irregularities had occurred but his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from a run-off saying the vote could not be free or fair.
Dr Abdullah strong criticised the IEC, which was widely accused of being biased towards Mr Karzai.
However, last week the Afghan president angered the West by alleging that the “widespread” fraud had been carried out by international agencies, namely elements within the UN and EU.
He later called US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to allay concerns, saying that Afghans were grateful for the international community’s help.
But tensions clearly remained.
On Tuesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs hinted that any future controversial remarks by President Karzai could jeopardise a planned invitation to Washington on 12 May.
“We certainly would evaluate whatever continued or further remarks President Karzai makes as to whether that’s constructive, to have such a meeting,” he told reporters.
Asked several times if President Karzai was an ally of the US, Mr Gibbs declined to answer directly.
Afghan assurances
Mr Karzai’s spokesman, Waheed Omer, played down Mr Karzai’s anti-Western comments, saying they would not affect relations with the West.
“The strategic relationship between Kabul and Washington is still in the partnership of the international community. Our stance and position are the same,” he said.
He added that the Afghan government had not received any official reaction from the US about May’s planned visit.
He said that the US had invited President Karzai to visit the US and it was up to the US to comment about this.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.