US warns Afghanistan’s Abdullah against power grab

The US threatened yesterday to scrap security and financial support to Afghanistan if a deepening crisis over the disputed presidential election ends in a power grab.

Washington issued the warning after thousands of supporters of Abdullah Abdullah rallied in Kabul, the capital, and called on him to launch a parallel government despite a preliminary official result giving victory to rival Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

Mr Abdullah said he was the real winner of a run-off poll he claims was riddled with fraud, a dangerous development in a process that is supposed to deliver the first democratic hand-over of power.

John Kerry, US secretary of state, who is to visit Kabul on Friday to help prop up the teetering election process, said: “I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern. Any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the US and international community.”

Suicide bomb

An attack by a bicycle-riding suicide bomber earlier yesterday killed 16 people on the outskirts of Bagram air base in eastern Afghanistan, adding to the sense of insecurity in a country still facing a Taliban insurgency and reliant on international aid.

The dead comprised four Czech Nato soldiers, two police officers and 10 civilians.

On a day of fast-moving events, Mr Abdullah’s supporters took to the streets of Kabul and tore down a large portrait of Hamid Karzai, the outgoing president, who they see as backing Mr Ghani.

Chanting “Death to Karzai”, they called on Mr Abdullah to name his own cabinet. “We are the winner of this round of elections without any doubt,” Mr Abdullah told the angry crowd, before pleading with them to be patient.

Protest

By claiming victory, Mr Abdullah has gone a step further than his protest as a candidate in the 2009 election, when he boycotted the second round because of alleged fraud.

His stand-off with Mr Ghani who, like him, is a former senior government minister, is a blow to western powers desperate for a smooth political transition ahead of the withdrawal of most Nato forces by the end of the year.

Analysts said Mr Abdullah – who spoke to Mr Kerry and President Barack Obama on the phone – appeared to be trying to prevent a dangerous situation from escalating.

Kate Clark, of the Afghanistan Analyst Network, said the election had thrown up “a lot of combustible material” that both candidates had stopped just short of lighting. She said Mr Kerry’s visit could help ease tensions. “America does have a stake in Afghanistan – and Afghanistan still needs America,” she said. The US has called for an investigation of Mr Abdullah’s fraud claims. – (Copyright the Financial Times Ltd 2014)