The country s beleaguered election commission gave in to political pressure on Sunday and declared that it would change the results of the latest parliamentary elections. The Independent Election Commission announced at a news conference on Sunday that nine members of Parliament would be removed, after having ruled that the election results were final and saying that even the commission could not change the outcome. Nine candidates, previously disqualified over electoral irregularities, would have their seats restored.

Dozens of Afghan MPs unseated by a special election court investigating allegations of fraud and irregularities have threatened to call for protests, including blocking the country's roads.

President Hamid Karzai ordered a month s delay in seating a new Parliament on Wednesday, heightening a constitutional crisis that threatens to fuel bitter infighting and potentially even violence among the country s rival factions.

Almost one in 10 of Afghanistan's victorious parliamentary candidates were disqualified for cheating today after an investigation into widespread fraud during September's election.

Evidence is mounting that fraud in last weekend s parliamentary election was so widespread that it could affect the results in a third of provinces, calling into question the credibility of a vote that was an important test of the American and Afghan effort to build a stable and legitimate government.

MARJA, Afghanistan -The first voter here was Muhammad Akbar, 22, who dipped his finger in the indelible purple ink, collected his ballot and had just stepped into the cardboard box that serves as a voting booth when gunfire broke out. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt Afghanistan s parliamentary election and sought to make good on that promise throughout the country on Saturday. At least 10 people were killed, scores of polling stations were attacked and hundreds of them apparently never opened.