* Karzai must assure opposition that election will be fair * U.N. complains that many donors bypass the government * U.N. chief Ban urges Karzai to strengthen Pakistan ties (Adds further comments from U.N. envoy, paragraphs 7-10) By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, March 19 (Reuters) - Opposition fears of an unfair election in Afghanistan this year are well-founded, and a rigged poll would fuel political instability and undermine support for democracy, a top U.N. envoy warned on Thursday. "All involved -- the government, the opposition, and the international community -- must understand the costs of a flawed and unfair election process," Kai Eide, the U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan, told the Security Council. "The result (of a rigged poll) would be prolonged political instability when stability is more than ever required ... (and) would create doubt in the minds of many Afghans about the value of democratic processes when confidence is needed," he said. Afghanistan has scheduled presidential elections for August, with violence in the country at its highest level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. Eide appealed to President Hamid Karzai and his government to assure the opposition that the election will be legitimate. "The opposition has concerns that are real and well-founded," he said. "The Afghan government must demonstrate that it will do its utmost to reassure the opposition that elections will be fair and will be transparent and that the resources of incumbency will not be misused." Eide cited areas of improvement -- a push to reform the police, reduce corruption and improve agriculture. He also said that opium poppy cultivation was expected to decline sharply this year in Afghanistan, the world's top heroin producer. DONOR CONFUSION Eide spoke of confusion over donations to Afghanistan. He said as much as an estimated $1 billion has been donated to Afghanistan without going through the government, making it difficult to monitor what the money is being spent on. "Afghan authorities do not know, and we do not know, how much is spent ... and for what purpose," he said. However, he told reporters that the U.N. estimate was a reliable one. Eide declined to say which countries and organizations were behind the donations. However, he said "few show readiness to adjust the practices which have brought us into the fragmentation and confusion we are in." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Reuters in an interview that he wanted Karzai to "strengthen the relation with the neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan." He said he was encouraged by Karzai's "strong cooperative relationship" with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari. U.S. and other military forces in Afghanistan see the elimination of militant support in lawless northwestern Pakistan as essential to winning the war in Afghanistan. Ban will attend an international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on March 31. Afghanistan's other key neighbor, Iran, was invited to the meeting by its old foe the United States and is also expected to participate. "Iran ... can play a constructive role," Ban said. Earlier this month the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan accused Iran of supporting the Taliban insurgency. Tehran denies suggestions that it is fomenting Afghan instability. Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have spread from the south and east to the outskirts of Kabul, forcing Washington to consider new options including a counter-insurgency push. "The security situation has deteriorated over the last months," Eide said, adding that the number of attacks rose by 42 percent in December and by 75 percent in January compared to the same months a year earlier. "We have to expect an intense fighting season starting a few weeks from now," the U.N. envoy told the Security Council. (Additional reporting by Sean Maguire; Editing by Anthony Boadle)
Protestors block street car traffic on Market Street during a demonstration on the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, in San Francisco, California March 19, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES ...
