President Hamid Karzai‘s lead still falls short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off, partial Afghan election returns released on Saturday showed.

Since the Aug. 20 election, Afghanistan has been on tenterhooks with official results coming out in slow drips. Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah alleges widespread fraud as Karzai’s camp claims victory.

Karzai leads Abdullah by 46.3 percent to 31.3 percent, with results from about a third of polling stations tallied.

The latest results suggest he would face a run-off, which must be held if no candidate wins more than 50 percent, scheduled for early October.

It is difficult to guess at the final outcome because results have been coming in at different rates from different provinces. Votes could also be thrown out by a complaints watchdog which says it is probing more than 2,000 accusations of fraud and abuse, including 270 serious enough to alter the outcome.

It is still too close to say whether Karzai can avoid a second round, Western diplomats say.

(via Reuters)