Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his chief rival, who have both claimed election victory, have assured U.S. officials they will respect the outcome despite fears of ethnic unrest, Washington's top envoy said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke met Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul on Friday, a day after presidential elections went ahead amid sporadic violence and despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote. Both camps said on Friday they were on track to win enough votes for an outright majority of more than 50 percent to avoid a potentially destabilising second round run-off vote in October.
The election is a major test for Karzai after eight years in office, as well as for U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy of pouring in thousands of extra troops to defeat the Taliban and its Islamist allies and stabilise Afghanistan.
Asked if he feared the leading candidates would incite their followers if the result was disputed, Holbrooke said "they said they wouldn't".
"They're all putting their own views but they all said they would respect the process," Holbrooke told reporters traveling with him in Kabul. He reiterated that Washington does not have a preferred candidate or favoured outcome.
Official preliminary results are not due for two weeks.
Election observers say a second round between Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, and Abdullah, who draws support from Tajiks in the north, risked dividing the country along ethnic lines, and that disagreement over the outcome could lead to civil unrest.
"Everybody understands there is an ethnic issue in the country," Holbrooke said.
"It's a factor, it's not a concern. Is it a factor that gives us heartburn? No, but it is a factor," he said.
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