13:18 GMT – An Afghan policeman stands guard at the site of a recent Taliban attack
13:17 GMT – Closing – WE ARE NOW CLOSING OUR LIVE REPORT on the Afghanistan presidential election results.
Four hours on from when the IEC initially planned to release the preliminary results data and there is still no announcement.
Afghans still wait to find out who will lead their nation as the country’s first democratic transfer of power remains in a state of uncertainty.
12:32 GMT – Ghani against further delays – Ashraf Ghani is determined to avoid any further delays to what has already been a pushed back vote count.
The run-off election result was due to be released last Wednesday but was delayed by the commission until Monday to allow an audit of nearly 2,000 of the 23,000 polling stations nationwide.
But Ghani’s patience is clearly running out. On Saturday he said any further delay in releasing preliminary results from the disputed election would be “unacceptable”.
11:51 GMT – Why Abdullah wants an audit – Agreeing on some form of audit of votes cast may be key to reaching a deal in this count. Abdullah’s camp believe widespread irregularities have taken place, particularly in the southern Pashtun heartlands where Ghani’s power base lies.
Influential US Senator Carl Levin, on a visit to Kabul, told reporters on Sunday that the preliminary result would likely be followed by an audit to assuage Abdullah’s fears of fraud.
“I expect that (there) is going to be an agreement on a comprehensive audit,” Levin, chairman of the Senate committee on armed services, said. “We have assurances (the candidates) will accept the outcome of such an audit.”
After the preliminary result on Monday, the official result is scheduled for July 24 after a period for adjudication of complaints.
Abdullah is not the only one pressing for a widened audit. On Thursday, European Union observers voiced growing international concern over fraud and called for an audit of suspicious votes to be expanded from 2,000 to 6,000 polling stations — about a quarter of all ballot boxes.
11:36 GMT – Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah
11:22 GMT – Closed door meetings – Our Kabul bureau reports that IEC officials are reportedly meeting behind closed doors.
The cause of the delay is still not known, though the candidates have been involved in last-minute negotiations over a proposed audit of suspicious votes.
11:17 GMT – Afghanistan presidential contenders Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah
11:12 GMT – Ethnic unrest – The fraud allegations and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the vote count has fanned ethnic tensions in the country and officials will be keen to avoid any further delays which might make matters worse
On Sunday, the Afghan government rejected a proposal to ban Facebook during the ongoing deadlock, despite fears that social media postings have encouraged ethnic hatred.
Supporters of both sides have been posting hostile messages and photographs since the fraud allegations erupted. Two weeks ago, the United Nations issued a warning that the Internet activity could spark civil unrest.
10:27 GMT – Delay – The results announcement is running late amid rumours the result could be further delayed. The IEC originally intended to release the preliminary results at 0930 GMT, an hour ago.
AFP reporter Mushtaq Mojaddidi at the IEC presser says there are tight security measures with armed Afghan police standing guard. Western and local journalists have packed a conference hall and are waiting for news.
“I don’t see any supporters of any candidates around, but they might come later,” he adds.
10:13 GMT – Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani
09:59 GMT – Power struggle – Afghanistan has been battered by decades of conflict, and any power struggle would undermine claims that the costly US-led military and civilian mission has helped to establish a functioning state. It could also threaten billions of dollars of aid pledges, and boost the insurgents.
The contenders
09:20 GMT – Abdullah Abdullah – An ophthalmologist by training and a resistance fighter against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, he came second in the 2009 election to current President Hamid Karzai, in a vote that was internationally denounced as fraudulent. Abdullah’s camp fear history is repeating itself.
09:19 GMT – Ashraf Ghani – Ghani is a former World Bank economist and globally renowned intellectual, who has shed some of his wonkish image during his current campaign and is more favoured by the country’s majority Pashtuns. He has flat out rejected Abdullah’s allegations of vote rigging.
08:59 GMT – Annoucement expected soon – WELCOME TO AFP’S LIVE REPORT on Afghanistan’s fraud-marred presidential elections.
Preliminary results are expected to be announced at a press conference by the Independent Election Commission in Kabul at 0930 GMT.
The vote count has been beset by allegations of rigging and impropriety, throwing into chaos what Afghans and the wider international community had hoped would be the country’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.
Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, who won the first round in April and was seen as the election front-runner, alleges that he was the victim of “industrial-scale” ballot-box stuffing during round two on June 14 and has vowed not to recognise the vote count.
His poll rival Ashraf Ghani, who was reported to be at least one million votes ahead, says the result is fair and must not be further delayed.