Karzai 'orders Afghan elections'

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, is reported to have called for presidential elections to be held in April - four months earlier than planned.

The Independent Election Commission will hold the presidential, provincial council and other elections according to the constitution, Karzai said in a decree released by his office on Saturday.

James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said: "The reports we have are that President Karzai is going to bring the elections forward. We have just received this decree.

"If it is true ... that would be very important news and it may be treated with some disquiet by the international community."

Karzai had indicated earlier in the week that he had judged the August 20 date set by the election commission to be unconstitutional, Bays said.

Opponents' criticism

Opponents of the president have said the move "may just be an effort by Karzai to use his advantage as president to wrong-foot them and use his office to help his campaign [for re-election]," he added.

"The former finance minister, Ashraf Ghani, told me earlier that the president should not set the election date, but the Independent Election Commission. He also said that if there is any dispute, then it is not up to the president to judge."