Karzai calls for end to Afghan election impasse

Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed today for the two men vying to succeed him to end their dispute over election results and save the country from further violence and economic decline.
Afghanistan has been paralysed for months after the first round of the presidential election failed to produce a clear winner and the second round of voting in June triggered allegations of massive fraud.
As fears grew of a return to civil war, the United States brokered an emergency deal designed to end the impasse between poll rivals Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank economist, and former anti-Taliban fighter Abdullah Abdullah.

But neither candidate appears willing to back down, and the dispute looks set to erupt again in the coming days when early results emerge from an anti-fraud audit of all eight million votes.
International pressure is building for Afghanistan to select the new president by the end of the month, as the pullout of US-led NATO troops continues and Taliban insurgents launch fresh offensives.
"I hope we stay united... So that our country is led toward peace and prosperity," Karzai said in a speech in Kabul to mark Independence Day.

"I hope that Afghanistan's election has a result soon. The people are waiting impatiently for the result.

"I hope both of our brothers... Reach an agreement so that Afghanistan soon has an inclusive government in which nobody is left out."
The political stalemate has revived ethnic divisions that lay behind the 1990s civil war in Afghanistan.
Many of Ghani's supporters are Pashtuns in the south and east, while Abdullah's loyalists are Tajiks and other northern groups.
The uncertainty has hit the fragile economy, which is dependent on falling aid funding as the 13-year international effort to develop Afghanistan winds down.
The US has been pushing for the next president to be inaugurated before a NATO summit starting on September 4, which should sign off on follow-up support after NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan ends this year.