Disqualified Afghan MPs barred from parliament

Nine Afghan lawmakers kicked out of the country's lower house as part of efforts to end a long-running vote-rigging row were refused access to parliament yesterday.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) last month ordered that the nine MPs be replaced, after almost a year of street protests and controversy over last September's fraud-tainted parliamentary polls.
While nine was far lower than other figures previously floated -- a special tribunal said in June it should be 62, a quarter of all lawmakers -- the ruling still prompted fury among many politicians.