Afghan vote result to be announced in 10 days

The final result of last month's presidential election in Afghanistan will be announced within the next 10 days, the country's top electoral officer is quoted as saying.

"The fate of the presidential election -- whether it goes for the second round -- will be cleared within the next 10 days," Afghan daily 8 Subh quoted the country's chief electoral officer as saying Saturday, according to Xinhua news agency.

"If there is need for a runoff, it will be held within one month," Daud Ali Najafi added.

Afghan election officials gave incumbent President Hamid Karzai 54.6 per cent of the vote on Wednesday.

That surpasses the 50 percent mark he needs to avoid having to run in a second round against his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, who has gained 27.7 percent of the vote.

This is while Grant Kippen, the current chairman of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission, has said the numbers mean nothing until he has finished investigating allegations of widespread voting fraud.

The ECC said earlier it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" and ordered a recount from some polling stations.

Abdullah has condemned the election as rigged.

Karzai acknowledges that some fraud took place but says it was exaggerated by international observers and the Western media.