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Karzai 'heading for election win' Afghan rivals claim poll victory
(21 minutes later)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's campaign chief says he has won enough votes to secure a majority without the need for a second round run-off. The two leading contenders for Afghanistan's presidential election have both claimed victory.
Deen Mohammad said the president had won a majority and no second round would be needed. The campaign teams for incumbent Hamid Karzai and ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah both said they had won an outright majority.
But a spokesman for Mr Karzai's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, also claimed victory, and electoral officials warned against speculation about the result. Electoral officials say the ballot counting is now over and the official result will be announced soon, but warned against predicting the outcome.
Millions of Afghans defied Taliban threats to vote in Thursday's election. Millions of Afghans defied Taliban threats to vote in Thursday's poll.
Voting passed off relatively peacefully and, although there were some attacks by insurgents, the UN said the vast majority of polling stations were able to function.
The election process won praise from the United States, the United Nations and Nato.
'Different turnouts'
Deen Mohammad, the campaign chief for Hamid Karzai, said they predicted victory after reports from nearly 29,000 monitors they had at polling stations across the country.
"Initial results show that the president has got a majority," he told Reuters news agency. "We will not go to a second round. We have got a majority."
But a spokesman for Abdullah Abdullah was quick to play down the Karzai camp's claims.
Fazl Sangcharaki said the results from his observers at polling booths around the country suggested Abdullah Abdullah had won 63% of the vote to Hamid Karzai's 31%.
"This is not a final result," he told the AFP news agency. "We are still receiving more results from our people on the ground. We might be done by tomorrow."
Afghan election officials refused to confirm either candidates' claims.
Instead, they asked the campaign teams to refrain from speculating on the results.
Official results had not been expected for a couple of weeks, but the Afghan Election Commission confirmed on Friday that ballot counting was over for the presidential election in all parts of the country.Official results had not been expected for a couple of weeks, but the Afghan Election Commission confirmed on Friday that ballot counting was over for the presidential election in all parts of the country.
One election commission official, Zekria Barakzai, told the AFP news agency that he expected the official results to be announced next week. One election commission official, Zekria Barakzai, told the AFP that he expected the official results to be announced next week.
"The turnout was different from south to the north and central parts of Afghanistan but still it is satisfactory and I expect that turnout will be from 40 to 50%," he said."The turnout was different from south to the north and central parts of Afghanistan but still it is satisfactory and I expect that turnout will be from 40 to 50%," he said.
Deen Mohammad told Reuters that his claim of a Karzai victory was based on reports from nearly 29,000 monitors his campaign team had at polling stations across the country.
But Abdullah Abdullah's spokesman Fazl Sangcharaki denied Mr Mohammad's claims.
"It isn't true," he said. "We also say, 'May be we don't need a second round and Abdullah won'."