Afghanistan entering \\\'a new phase\\\': Abdullah

KABUL, Aug 9 (AFP):- 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 solved.
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 two 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.
Abdullah stressed that the vote audit must be completed in time to have a new president before a NATO summit in Britain on September 4-5 -- a key demand of the US.