Afghan elections 'delicate,' U.S. says

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Washington stood firm by its position that it was too early to speculate on any controversies surrounding the Afghan election or the next administration.

Polls suggest incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai is increasing his lead over former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. The outcome, however, is tainted by a growing number of complaints questioning the validity of the vote.

An article in The New York Times, meanwhile, reports U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had called on Karzai to not pick controversial former warlord Mohamed Fahim as his running mate. Washington had considered sanctioning Fahim for his role as a notorious warlord during the Soviet occupation.

P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, sidestepped questions regarding Fahim, saying Washington would prefer to wait for the official results before making any statements on the next administration.

"I would say that obviously, we're in a delicate time here," he said. "We're going to wait and see what the result of the elections are."

He went on to say some of the issues raised during the Aug. 20 election were "significant" but declined to single out Fahim as one of the top concerns.

"They are issues that we are going to continue to address with the new Afghan government," he said. "But I don't want to prejudge who will be the leader of that government and who will be the various ministers."