KHOST CITY (PAN): An amount of 500 afghanis was paid to each participant of a public meeting organised in support of President Hamid Karzais election campaign in KhostCity on Wednesday.

Majority of the participants were youths from the provincial capital and adjoining districts.

Karzais campaign manager Pir Said Shah, head of Mujahideen Shura Maulvi Muhammad Sardar Zadran and local elders addressed the public meeting. The speakers hailed the incumbent president as the most suitable of the 41 candidates.

They asked the attendees to support Karzai during the upcoming presidential polls, scheduled for August 20.

 Although several participants criticised some of the Karzai government's policies over the last few years, they said he was the most suitable man to lead the country and steer it out of the existing crises.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Pir Said Shah announced payment of 500 afghanis to each of the participants. He said organisers of the meeting wanted to arrange lunch for the guests, but they could not do so.

Taj Muhammad, one of the attendees, showed the 500 afghanis he collected from the organisers of the public meeting. To the question why money was distributed to participants, the Karzai campaign head Pir Said Shah said those people had come from far-off areas.

The amount was paid as route fare and lunch cost. Head of the Independent Election Commission in Khost Abdul Rahman Muhabat told Pajhwok that gathering information about money distribution during election campaigns was not part of his duty.