Some Pakistani lawmakers are urging other candidates to concede to Afghan President Hamid Karzai in last month's elections, amid worries that a drawn-out dispute over the results could destabilise both countries. Pakistan has a history of troubled and complex relations with neighbouring Afghanistan, and the US sees their security as linked _ and central to quashing the Taliban and al Qaida terrorist threat.
``Whatever is happening there is affecting us, too,' said Syed Haider Ali Shah, a Pakistani lawmaker from the Awami National Party, which governs the militant-riddled North West Frontier Province near the Afghan border. ``There has already been a lot of election-related bloodshed in Afghanistan, and the opponents of Hamid Karzai should accept their defeat by accepting the public mandate,' he said.
Votes are still being tallied from Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election. Results from 92 percent of the polling stations show that Karzai has crossed the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. But a UN-backed commission is investigating widespread fraud allegations and could throw out enough votes to drop Karzai back below 50 percent.
Pakistanis are not enamoured of Karzai, but he is Pashtun, a major ethnic group in their country and one that dominates the north-west region bordering Afghanistan. Shah's Awami party is a moderate Pashtun nationalist party. Many Pakistanis believe having a Pashtun in power could give Islamabad influence in Kabul.
They also are suspicious of his top rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who has had links to India, a long-time rival of Pakistan. Abdullah is half Tajik, half Pashtun, but has stronger ties to Afghanistan's Tajik community. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signalled support for Karzai in a BBC interview posted online Wednesday. ``I'll be there to be with him when he is sworn in because he was here when I was sworn in,' he said. He played down allegations of a tainted vote, saying ``the judgement is still out on that.'
Zardari's statements and those by lawmakers could provoke resentment in Kabul, where Pakistan's history of interference in Afghan affairs rankles many. ``I would ... advise our Pakistani friends to resist the urge and to stop making comments on our elections,' said Abdul Satar Murad, Abdullah's campaign chief in Kabul.
Pakistan supported the Taliban government that took power in Kabul in the mid-1990s but severed ties with the Islamists under US pressure after the September 11, 2001, attacks. It saw the Taliban as a way to influence Afghanistan and use it as a bulwark against India.
Abdullah was part of the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan warlords and politicians who helped oust the Taliban after September 11. The Northern Alliance had good relations with India, with whom Pakistan has fought three wars over the past 62 years. Lal Muhammad Khan, a lawmaker from Zardari's ruling party who hails from north-west Pakistan, described Abdullah as ``from the Indian lobby.' Analyst Moonis Ahmar said Karzai's weak record in government isn't enough to overshadow concerns about Abdullah.
``Karzai, despite all his vulnerabilities and fragile position and whatever, is considered a lesser evil,' he said. Pakistan and Afghanistan often blame each other for failing to deal with militants on their respective sides of the border, and Karzai clashed frequently with former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on this issue.
While differences remain, the Afghan leader has had cordial relations with Zardari since he succeeded Musharraf a year ago. The two countries have pledged to work together to calm the region _ co-operation the US says is essential to the fight against militancy. One Pakistani lawmaker said Karzai's opponents should think about the greater interest.
``No one will serve the cause of peace by making the results of the Afghan elections controversial,' said Aftab Khan Sherpao, a former interior minister. Stratfor, a US-based global intelligence firm, noted in a recent report that the Taliban could make gains if their opponents _ including Abdullah and Karzai _ are fighting over who's in AP.
``Washington needs coherence among the anti-Taliban forces and whatever stability it can get in Kabul to push ahead with its counterinsurgency efforts,' it said. The United States has appealed to Karzai not to claim victory and let reviews of fraud allegations take place.
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