Afghan election rivals square up for results showdown

KABUL, June 30 (AP): Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates ratcheted up tensions Monday ahead of the release of results, with one campaign team preparing for victory and the other rejecting the count in a dispute that could trigger instability.

The United Nations and donor countries have been trying for months to prevent a contested election outcome, fearing political deadlock and ethnic violence as US-led troops withdraw from the country.

But with the two candidates at loggerheads, Wednesday's preliminary results look set to tip Afghanistan into a risky period of street protests and uncertainty.

The election crisis comes as Taliban insurgents launched a major offensive in southern Afghanistan in a sign of the challenges that Afghan security forces face with declining NATO military support.

Abdullah Abdullah, previously seen as the poll front-runner, has boycotted the election process over "blatant fraud"-to the dismay of officials and diplomats keen for Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power to go smoothly.