Disputed Afghan election result imminent

The result of Afghanistan's disputed election will shortly be declared, officials say, as last-minute talks between the two rival candidates continued on a proposed power-sharing deal.

The stalemate between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah since the June 14 vote has plunged Afghanistan into a political crisis as US-led NATO troops end their 13-year war against the Taliban.

Both men claim to have won the fraud-tainted election, and the United Nations and the United States have pushed hard for a "national unity government" to try to avoid a return to the ethnic divisions of the 1990s civil war.

"The IEC will officially announce the final result of the presidential election tomorrow," Independent Election Commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said on Saturday.

Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a spokesman for Abdullah, said the two candidates were preparing to sign a deal.

"They are set to meet again shortly today to reach a final agreement," he said.

"The IEC is not supposed to announce the final results before the agreement is finalised."