Kabul: Partial Afghan election returns released on Saturday showed President Hamid Karzai extending his lead in last week's vote, but still falling short of the 50 per cent needed to avoid a run-off.
Afghanistan has been on tenterhooks since the August 20 election, with official results coming out in slow drips, Karzai's camp claiming victory and his main rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, alleging widespread fraud.
With results from about a third of polling stations tallied, Karzai leads Abdullah by 46.3 per cent to 31.3 per cent.
The latest results extend Karzai's lead substantially from earlier partial figures, but they still suggest he would face a run-off, which must be held if no candidate wins more than 50 per cent, scheduled for early October.
Results have been coming in at different rates from different provinces, so it is difficult to guess at the final outcome. Votes could also be thrown out by a complaints watchdog which says it is probing more than 2,000 accusations of fraud and abuse, including 270 serious enough to alter the outcome.
Western diplomats have said it is still too close to say whether Karzai can avoid a second round.
Southern provinces, which largely support Karzai, have been late to report. They are also the areas where many of the fraud allegations have been concentrated, and where Taliban violence and threats were most successful in scaring away voters.
Officials have still not given any figure for overall turnout. With 35 per cent of polling stations tallied, there were more than two million votes recorded, suggesting total turnout of around six million, although officials warn against extrapolating.
The turnout appears disappointing in a country of about 30 million people, with an estimated 15 million eligible voters.
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