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Agence France-Presse in Kabul

US Secretary of State John Kerry was on Saturday to hold a second day of talks with Afghanistan’s feuding presidential hopefuls, seeking a deal to “clean up the tally” after disputed elections.
Despite back-to-back meetings on Friday with rivals Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani that stretched deep into the night, US officials said an accord was not yet on the table.
The deadlock over last month’s run-off vote to succeed outgoing President Hamid Karzai has plunged Afghanistan into crisis and dented US hopes of a smooth transfer of power as Washington seeks to withdraw all its troops by late 2016.

Kerry was to meet on Saturday first with Abdullah and then with Ghani, US officials said.
Under a proposal put forward by the United Nations, the country’s elections commission would audit ballot boxes from just over 8,000 polling stations where suspicions of ballot-stuffing have been raised.
While Ghani’s campaign has embraced the UN plan, Abdullah’s team remains sceptical arguing the proposals to review some 35 per cent of all votes does not address all their concerns.

	“There were serious allegations of fraud that were raised that have not been sufficiently investigated.”

	Senior US Official
On Friday Kerry stressed that results released on Monday showing Ghani in the lead with some 56 per cent of the vote were only “preliminary”.
“They are neither authoritative nor final, and no-one should be stating a victory at this point in time,” Kerry said.
“We want a unified, stable, democratic Afghanistan. It is important that whoever is president is recognised by the people as having become president through a legitimate process,” he said.

Abdullah, who has already lost one presidential bid in controversial circumstances, has declared himself the true winner, saying massive fraud robbed him of victory in the June 14 run-off vote.
US officials told reporters late on Friday that “many ideas were under consideration” as they seek to unblock the dispute.
Kerry was focusing on two tracks, a senior US administration official said.
“One is cleaning up the tally, so to speak, to the extent possible so that the process is more credible. But two, creating a dialogue where the Afghans can have the conversation” on a path forward, the official said.
Another US official said the UN audit would be very important. “There were serious allegations of fraud that were raised that have not been sufficiently investigated,” he said.
Little headway seemed to have been made, however, in persuading Ghani and Abdullah to meet and discuss a way forward.
In a swift boost for the top US diplomat’s efforts, Ghani backed a wide audit of the elections.
“Our commitment is to ensure that the election process enjoys the integrity and the legitimacy of the people of Afghanistan and the world,” Ghani said on Friday.
“Therefore we believe in the most intensive and extensive audit possible to restore faith.”

UN officials late on Thursday presented a plan to Karzai to audit polling stations across 34 provinces, a process that would take two weeks.
These would be selected according to five criteria that could indicate fraud – such as if the results were multiples of 50, or where women’s polling stations were staffed by men.
If agreed, some 8,050 polling stations would be audited, involving 3.5 million ballots, or 44 per cent of all ballots cast.
Abdullah, a former anti-Taliban resistance fighter, draws his support among Tajiks and other northern Afghan groups, while Ghani is backed by Pashtun tribes of the south and east – a disturbing echo of the ethnic divisions of the civil war in the 1990s.
Thirteen years after the 2001 US invasion ousted the hardline Taliban Islamic regime, all sides are keen to maintain the gains made in such areas as literacy rates and women’s rights.
But Afghan forces know they will increasingly have to stand up to a bloody Taliban insurgency on their own as international forces withdraw.
Washington also wants a signed deal on protecting US forces left in the country until late 2016.
 


US secretary of state pushes plan to ‘clean up’ disputed Afghan vote 

US Secretary of State John Kerry is greeted by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai as he arrives for a dinner at the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Afghanistan's presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah and US Secretary of State John Kerry talk prior to a meeting at the US embassy in Kabul. Photo: AFP

 John Kerry and Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani pose outside the US embassy in Kabul prior to talks. Photo: EPA

Kerry warns that legitimacy of Afghanistan election ‘hangs in balance’

Secretary of state Kerry shakes hands with Afghanistan's presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani at the US embassy in Kabul. Photo: Reuters

US Secretary of State John Kerry disembarks after arriving at Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan on Friday. Photo: AP

John Kerry is greeted by Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief of protocol Ambassador Hamid Siddiq, at Kabul International airport. Photo: AP

Afghan policemen take oath during their graduation ceremony at a police training center in Nangarhar province on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua 

Afghan National Army troops inspect the site after Taliban fighters stormed a government compound in Kandahar on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

John Kerry leans in to speak with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday. Photo: AP

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani vows quick action on US security pact

Ashraf Ghani (right) said that he wouldn’t make any changes to the bilateral security agreement with the US that outgoing President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign. Photos: EPA, AFP

Ashraf Ghani

Abdullah fraud claim delays final result in Afghanistan presidential poll

Abdullah Abdullah claims unresolved problems. Photo: EPA

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Jophn Kerry advocates practical plan to 'clean up the tally' after both candidates claim run-off victory in Afghanistan's presidential polls
