Afghan presidential election: Live Report

AFP Afghan presidential election: Live Report

Kabul (AFP) - 16:04 GMT - Tough job ahead - AFP is closing this Live Report on the preliminary result of the Afghan presidential election. To recap, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani look set to face each other in a second round run-off after coming first and second respectively.

The vote will choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power.

Whoever wins will face a daunting task of overseeing the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency as 51,000 US-led troops depart this year, as well as strengthening an economy that relies on declining aid money. LIVE REPORT ENDS

15:36 GMT - View from Kabul - One of our Kabul based reporters has been testing reaction on the street following the results.

Zaki, an electrician from Kabul, said: "It would have been very good if there was winner in the first round, there will be extra costs for the second round elections."

Tamim, a taxi driver, added: "People will participate in second round voting as they did in first round, people are not afraid of security threats or any other issue."

15:36 GMT - Power brokers - Nuristani is clearly happy with the way the election has gone so far. "The election went pretty good, we are satisfied with it and I think we are prepared if it goes to the second round," he said.

Candidates who came behind Abdullah and Ghani could play ket roles in deciding whether second round run off is necessary. Zalmai Rassoul, who took just 11 percent of the vote and is widely believed to be Karzai's favoured candidate, could still play a key role in power-brokering before the next president is chosen, as could former Islamist warlord Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, who collected a seven percent.

15:35 GMT - Run-off - Given the expense and security issues Afghanistan faces election officials are keen to avoid a second round run-off if possible.

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Afghan presidential election: Live Report