KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's outgoing leader Hamid Karzai said on Monday that his nation needs a new president and urged for a speedy conclusion to the ballot audit that will determine his successor. 
 
 Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, greets with journalists as he prepares for Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer... (Associated Press) 
 
 Pigeons fly as Afghans prepare to offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Ahmad Nazar) (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, leaves after Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the holy fasting... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, talks to the media after Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the... (Associated Press) 
 
 In a speech marking the start of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows the fasting month of Ramadan, Karzai said that Afghans "want to have an outcome to the election as soon as possible, so that this country can have its president soon." 
 
 After fraud was alleged by both presidential contenders, all 8 million ballots cast in the second round of the Afghan presidential vote in June are being audited under national and international supervision. 
 
 The process is key to insuring a peaceful transfer of power ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of the year. 
 
 In his speech, Karzai also expressed sympathy with the suffering of Gaza Palestinians in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war, and said the Afghans "remember the people of Palestine in Gaza who get killed brutally, night and day." 
 
 Karzai also reiterated calls on the Taliban to join the country's peace process and stop killing other Afghans. 
 
 "I call upon the leaders of the Taliban to stop fighting Afghans," Karzai said. "I call on them to live in peace and dignity with their brothers and sisters." 
 
 The peace process has been virtually on hold until after the new president is chosen. The two candidates — former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai — are awaiting the results of the audit. 
 
 In his own message ahead of the Eid holiday, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, dealt a blow to the peace prospects last Friday, when he warned that a bilateral security pact allowing thousands of U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the end of this year will mean more fighting. 

 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says a suicide bomber, his explosives hidden inside his turban, has assassinated the cousin of President Hamid Karzai. 
 
 Dawa Khan Minapal, the spokesman for the governor of southern Kandahar province, says the attack took place on Tuesday morning in Karz district. 
 
 Minapal says the bomber walked up to greet Ashmat Khlil Karzai, a political figure in his own right who has backed former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's bid to succeed President Karzai. 
 
 The bomber shook hands with Ashmat Karzai after prayers outside the Karzai family home, then detonated his explosives. 
 
 This is not the first time that President Karzai's family members have been targeted. His brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was slain in his home in the city of Kandahar by an unknown attacker seven years ago.
– Three years after Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother was assassinated—and a weeping Karzai climbed into his grave—a suicide bomber has killed Karzai's cousin, an official says. According to a rep for Kandahar province's governor, the attacker shook hands with Ashmat Khlil Karzai near the Karzai family residence before detonating a bomb hidden in his turban, the AP reports. Ashmat Khlil Karzai was also a politician who supported finance minister Ashraf Ghani to be Afghanistan's next president. Ghani and his opponent, ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, have both pointed to fraud in the presidential election; yesterday, President Karzai called for a quick resolution to a ballot audit, the AP notes.