Afghan votes 'need 10% recount'

**Ballots from 10% of polling stations in Afghanistan need to be recounted because of indications of fraud, a top election official says.**About 2,500 polling stations across the country were affected, Grant Kippen of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission said.

His comments come amid reports of serious tensions within the UN mission over the issue of electoral fraud.

A substantive vote recount could force President Hamid Karzai into a run-off.

With 95% of the vote counted, Mr Karzai had a 54% share, electoral officials said on Saturday.

But if fraud investigations cause this figure to drop below 50%, he and closest challenger Abdullah Abdullah, who has 28% of the vote, may have to go to a second-round vote.