election Kabul, Oct 18, SPA -- Afghanistan's interim leader,Hamid Karzai, held a 45 percentage point lead Monday inpreliminary results from the country's first presidentialelection. The U.S.-backed incumbent's closest challenger, formerEducation Minister Yunus Qanooni, claimed to have evidenceof organized fraud in favor of Karzai and that theU.N.-Afghan electoral commission was ignoring hiscomplaints. "If his excellency Mr. Karzai, my old friend, succeeds ina fair and transparent election, I will congratulate himand cooperate with him," Qanooni told reporters. "But ifthe result is fraudulent, the legitimacy of this electionwill be in question." Millions of Afghans braved Taliban threats and poorweather to cast their ballots on Oct. 9, an unlikelydemocratic experiment after a quarter-century of fighting.--SPA1436 Local Time 1136 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/211772