Medvedev congratulates Afghan president on re-election

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on his re-election, the Kremlin press office said on Tuesday.

"I am convinced that friendly Russian-Afghan relations and multi-faceted cooperation between our countries will advance further for the benefit of the peoples of Russia and Afghanistan, in the interests of peace and stability in the region," the congratulatory message said.

Karzai was declared the winner of Afghanistan's presidential elections on Monday when officials scrapped the second round of voting following the withdrawal of his opponent, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Abdullah had wanted the removal of key election officials before taking part in the November 7 run-off, which Karzai had agreed to after international pressure following his fraud-tainted victory in the first round.