KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said Saturday that his country was entering "a new phase" in an interview with AFP, raising hopes that a bitter dispute over fraud-tainted elections might soon be resolved.
Abdullah and his bitter rival Ashraf Ghani vowed Friday to work together whoever becomes president in a unity government deal that was overseen by US Secretary of State John Kerry during a visit to Kabul to mediate an end to the impasse.
The feud threatens to revive ethnic conflict in the war-weary nation as US-led NATO troops withdraw after more than a decade in the country.
"I'm hopeful but I'm not saying that we are at the end of the road. We are at the beginning of a new phase," Abdullah told AFP.
Abdullah had refused to accept preliminary results from the second round of voting that put Ghani ahead, a reversal of the first round where he came out strongly in the lead.
Both candidates accused each other of trying to steal the election by massive ballot-box stuffing.
The feuding opponents agreed to an audit of all 8.1 million votes cast during the second round of voting under a previous deal overseen by Kerry but it soon frayed due to disagreements.
Under the terms of the new agreement, a national unity government will undertake a comprehensive political reform programme.
A new position -- "government chief executive officer" -- will be created by presidential decree.
Within two years, after constitutional changes, the position of "executive prime minister" will also be created, raising the possibility of the two men's camps working in tandem whoever is declared the winner.
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