Afghan President Hamid Karzai releases a dove during the Afghanistan Independence Day ceremony in Kabul onAugust 19, 2002. AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili
Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (click title to entry - thank you) says partial election results show blatant evidence of "state-engineered" vote fraud, such as polling districts in which every vote was cast for President Hamid Karzai.
Mr. Abdullah Saturday urged the international community to intervene, saying that if Afghanistan's next leader is chosen through a fraudulent vote, it could fuel instability in the country.
Afghanistan's election commission says it stands by the partial results it has released on its Web site.
Officials postponed the release of the next round of election results, which were due Saturday. It is not clear if they made that decision based on a request from Mr. Abdullah.
The most recent figures, based on returns from 60 percent of the country's polling stations show Mr. Karzai leading Mr. Abdullah with about 47 percent of the vote.
Candidates need at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.
Helium hopes: Afghan presidential candidate and former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah hopes his fortunes will soar as high as balloons. But incumbent Hamid Karzai is set to pop them. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
