A senior UN official in Afghanistan has been removed from his post following a row about how to handle the country’s disputed election. Peter Galbraith had angered Afghan President Hamid Karzai by criticising the country’s election commission. Mr Galbraith, from the US, was said to have called for a complete recount.

Last week the top UN Afghan envoy, Kai Eide, said Mr Galbraith had left the country after a row between them, but he denied he had ordered him to go. UN sources say Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided to end Mr Galbraith’s mission after it became clear he was no longer able to carry out his work in Afghanistan, says the BBC’s Lyse Doucet. Some Afghan cabinet ministers had said they no longer wanted to work with him.