The French Foreign Ministry on Monday appealed for patience over the official final result of Afghanistan's presidential election.
"We are waiting for the conclusion of the Afghan electoral authorities and the evaluation of the international observers," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevalier said Monday. He urged all candidates to show sense of responsibility to "let the election procedure end in a satisfied way of national solidarity."
Afghanistan held its second post-Taliban presidential election on Thursday. The incumbent president Hamid Karzai and his major challenger Abdullah Abdullah were the two leading candidates.
Although the final results were not due until next month, both President Karzai and Abudullah declared a first-round victory on Friday.
On Sunday, Abdullah announced that fraud was threatening to undermine the outcome of the election. "We would not accept the outcome of the election if the process is not transparent; rather, we would take legal action," he declared.
The official final results of the Afghan presidential election would be announced on Sept. 17, according to Daud Ali Najafi, Chief Electoral Officer of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission. The commission is the only body that announces the official results of the election.
France has about 2,900 troops in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan under a UN mandate.