DHAKA: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah insisted on Monday that he won the country’s disputed election, dimming hopes that a United Nations-supervised audit of votes could soon end the prolonged political crisis.

Abdullah repeated claims that massive ballot-rigging had denied him victory over his rival Ashraf Ghani in the race to lead Afghanistan as United States-led Nato troops withdraw from their long war against Taleban insurgents.

The bitter stalemate over alleged fraud in the June 14 vote has raised fears of renewed ethnic violence as the 13-year international military and civilian development effort winds down.

‘We were the winner of the elections, we are the winner of elections based on the real and clean votes of the people,’ Abdullah said in a speech, reports The Straits Times.

‘We do not accept fraudulent election results, and we will not accept a fraudulent government for a day.’

BDST: 2117 HRS, SEP 08, 2014