US Secretary of State John Kerry is
holding a second day of talks in
Afghanistan to try to end a row over
the result of the presidential poll. Kerry is meeting candidates Ashraf
Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who
accuse each other of electoral fraud,
at the US compound in the capital,
Kabul. Ghani, the winner of preliminary
results in the second round, has
backed an “extensive audit” of
votes. Meanwhile, 10 people have been
killed in bomb attacks blamed on the
Taliban. Eight civilians, including several
women, died when a roadside bomb
blew up in southern Kandahar
province. A bomb in the eastern city
of Jalalabad, in Nangarhar province,
claimed two more lives. Afghanistan’s current President
Hamid Karzai, who came to office
after the US-led overthrow of the
Taliban, is stepping down after more
than 10 years. US officials said they were hoping for
a breakthrough on Saturday after the
first day of negotiations remained
inconclusive. The US Secretary of State, who arrived
in Kabul on Friday in a hastily
arranged visit, earlier welcomed Mr
Ghani’s backing of an audit. “No-one is declaring victory at this
time. The results have yet to be
finalised and so those questions
have to be resolved and I’m very
appreciative that Dr Ghani respects
that,” Mr Kerry told journalists ahead of starting the talks. The US has been concerned at
reports that Abdullah, who
preliminary results suggest lost the
election, is planning a “parallel
government”. Results announced by Afghanistan’s
election officials give Ghani 56.44 per
cent of votes in the 14 June run-off,
with Mr Abdullah gaining 43.45 per
cent. The results were markedly different
from those achieved in the first
round of voting, held in April. In that round, Abdullah fell just short
of an outright majority, with 44.9 per
cent, with Mr Ghani second at
31.5 per cent. Votes are already being re-checked
at more than 7,000 polling stations –
nearly a third of the total number. Correspondents say recounts could
significantly alter the final result, due
on July 22. The UN Assistance Mission to
Afghanistan warned it would be
“premature” for either side to claim
victory. There are also concerns about a
further deterioration in the security
situation. Taliban militants have been testing
the limits of the Afghan army in
recent weeks, with a major offensive
in the southern province of Helmand. The withdrawal of foreign troops by
the end of this year will be the litmus
test of whether more than a decade
of training and investment in
building up Afghanistan’s own
security forces has paid off, correspondents say. President Barack Obama has said the
US remained committed to
Afghanistan provided the incoming
president signed a security
agreement. Both Abdullah and Ghani have said
they are committed to signing the
deal with the US that would allow a
small force to stay on.