Afghan rivals declare election victory

President Hamid Karzai's campaign and chief rival Abdullah Abdullah both said today they had won Afghanistan's election, with…

President Hamid Karzai's campaign and chief rival Abdullah Abdullah both said today they had won Afghanistan's election, with US officials warning the candidates to keep a lid on simmering tensions.

Both camps said unofficial counts by campaign workers showed they had won enough votes from yesterday's election, which went ahead despite Taliban threats of violence, to avoid a potentially destabilising second round of voting in October.

The election is a major test for Mr Karzai after eight years in power as well as for US President Barack Obama new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilise Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai's campaign manager Deen Mohammad said early results showed Mr Karzai had won a majority. "We will not get to a second round," he said.

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Mr Abdullah, Mr Karzai's former foreign minister, dismissed the Karzai camp's victory claim and said he was on track to win in the first round after yesterday's vote, which went ahead despite sporadic Taliban violence.

"I'm ahead. Initial results from the provinces show that I have more than 50 per cent of the vote," Mr Abdullah said.

Official preliminary results are not due for two weeks.

Election observers say a second round between Mr Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, and Mr Abdullah, who draws support from Tajiks in the north, risked dividing the country along ethnic lines, and that disagreement over the outcome could lead to civil unrest.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke said he was sure the outcome of yesterday's vote would be disputed and told candidates to keep a lid on tensions.

"We always knew it would be a disputed election. I would not be surprised if you see candidates claiming victory and fraud in the next few days," said Mr Holbrooke, who met Mr Karzai and Mr Abdullah in Kabul today.

Mr Abdullah urged "calmness, patience, a sense of responsibility" from his supporters. "Violence should be avoided in any circumstances," he said at his home in Kabul.

Polls conducted before the election showed Mr Karzai in the lead but suggested he would not gain the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Reuters