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Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah waves to the crowd as he gives a campaign speech - Source: Reuters -
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Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah is leaning
toward pulling out of the run-off election but may be using the
threat as a negotiating ploy with President Hamid Karzai, according
to diplomatic sources.
"We have heard that talks with Karzai have broken down and he
(Abdullah) is leaning toward not taking part in the election but
this could also be a negotiating ploy," says one Western diplomatic
source.
"It is not a done deal," adds the source, who spoke on condition
of anonymity as the issue is sensitive.
Another diplomatic source says it ias very likely that Abdullah
will not take part in the November 7 run-off but cautions that this
could change before the presidential candidate's news conference
set for Sunday.
Diplomats say there are questions over whether Abdullah would use his news conference as a concession speech to incumbent Karzai or declare a boycott of the run-off, which was ordered after the fraud-ridden first round in August.
Western officials are also studying the legal and political ramifications of there being only one candidate in the run-off.
Earlier the New York Times reported Abdullah was quitting the race.
The decision, if confirmed, will effectively give Karzai a second five-year term.
Abdullah polled second in the August 20 election behind Karzai.
But the election was discredited after the United Nations threw out nearly a million ballots, one third of Karzai's total, on grounds they were fake.
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