elections are not expected before Tuesday
The two main rivals for the Afghan presidency have vowed they will respect the election outcome, in what US officials hope will calm fears of ethnic unrest. Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said on Saturday that both Hamid Karzai, the incumbent president, and Abdullah Abdullah, his closest rival, had assured him they would honour the outcome of the vote.
"They're all putting their own views, but they all said they would respect the process," Holbrooke said.
Asked by journalists travelling with him in Kabul if he feared the candidates would incite their followers if the result was disputed, Holbrooke said: "they said they wouldn't".
Both Karzai and Abdullah claimed victory on Friday, following Afghanistan's landmark elections to choose a new president and 420 councillors across 34 provinces.
The rival camps said their candidates were on track to win enough votes for an outright majority of more than 50 per cent and avoid a potentially destabilising second round run-off vote in October. Read more here ...
Source: Al Jazeera (English)
Posts
