Afghan election results confirm Abdullah-Ghani run-off

Kabul (AFP) - Afghanistan's election will go to a run-off vote between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, results confirmed Thursday, as the country enters a new era without NATO combat troops.

The head-to-head election, scheduled for June 14, will choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power.

Whoever wins will have to oversee the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency as 51,000 US-led troops depart this year, as well as try to strengthen an economy reliant on declining aid money.

"We were number one and we will be number one," Abdullah, a trained ophthalmologist and former anti-Taliban fighter, told supporters.

"The success of our team, which is the bigger and more inclusive team, is ensured by the will of the people. I am sure that millions of people will participate in the election."

Abdullah secured 45 percent of the April 5 vote, with Ghani on 31.6 percent, according to the final results, which came after weeks of deliberation over fraud allegations.

"We accept the result of the first round," Ghani, a former US-based academic, told supporters. "We are fully prepared to go to this brave nation and see who they trust and give authority to."

The 2009 election, when Karzai beat Abdullah, was marred by rigging in a chaotic process that shook confidence in the multinational effort to develop the country after the Taliban were ousted 13 years ago.

Nations that have fought in Afghanistan and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001 see a smooth handover as a key benchmark of success, despite continuing violence.

The run-off is necessary under the Afghan constitution as no candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round, when eight men ran.

The UN mission in Afghanistan welcomed Thursday's results, but warned that the run-off would pose a test for candidates and election authorities.

"Candidates have a responsibility to call on their supporters to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric, intimidation, and threats," said UNAMA chief Jan Kubis.

"(They) must also instruct their supporters not to commit fraud on their behalf."

The US embassy described the results as "a milestone in Afghanistan's democratic development".

The second round was originally set for May 28, but ink and other material was damaged in an insurgent attack on the election authorities' warehouses -- further extending the months-long election process.

- Building alliances -

Abdullah's campaign this week received a boost with the endorsement of third-placed Zalmai Rassoul, a close ally of Karzai, who has stayed publicly neutral in the election.

Rassoul's support for Abdullah increased pressure on Ghani to concede, and another election could be avoided by deal-making in the coming weeks.

The final results were closely in line with preliminary figures released late last month, despite officials examining more than 900 serious fraud complaints.

Abdullah, who had raised most of the fraud allegations, said he accepted the result without complaint.

Karzai, who has ruled since the end of the austere Taliban regime, is constitutionally barred from a third term in office.

The first-round election last month was hailed as a major success, with turnout far better than in 2009 and the Taliban failing to launch a significant attack despite threats to disrupt the vote.

But the run-off will be a major challenge for Afghanistan's police and army at the height of the traditional "fighting season".

Voting could also whip up ethnic tension as Abdullah's support is based among the Tajik minority and other northern groups, while Ghani is a Pashtun -- Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, which is strongest in the south and east.

- Fears for the future -

At a donors' meeting in Tokyo on Thursday, deputy foreign minister Ershad Ahmadi asked nations not to reduce financial aid to Afghanistan, which has suffered more than three decades of conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979.

"It is important to recognise that the war is not over yet," he told delegates.

An International Crisis Group (ICG) report released this week concluded that "the overall trend is one of escalating violence and insurgent attacks".

The Taliban this week marked the start of their annual "spring offensive" with rocket attacks on Kabul airport and a suicide attack on government offices in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

The Islamist extremists said that the offensive would cleanse "the filth of the infidels" from the country and also would target Afghan translators, officials and politicians.

Abdullah and Ghani are pro-Western moderates who have pledged to sign a deal with Washington that could allow up to 10,000 US troops to stay on after this year on a training and counter-terrorism mission.

Previous steps to begin a peace process with the Taliban ended in failure, but the incoming president may revive efforts to open negotiations.

Preliminary results of the run-off will be released on July 2 and final results on July 22.