Afghanistan's Abdullah calls on election officials to halt count --- (Reuters) - Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday demanded election organisers stop counting ballots because of widespread fraud, potentially derailing what is seen as a make-or-break vote before most foreign troops leave. -- Millions of Afghans turned out on Saturday for a second-round run-off to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai, a decisive test of the country's ambitions to transfer power democratically for the first time in its tumultuous history. -- The run-off pitted former anti-Taliban fighter and opposition leader Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, after neither secured the 50 percent needed to win first round outright on April 5. -- The elections have consumed Afghanistan for months and been marred by attacks by the Taliban, who call the vote a U.S. ploy. Over 50 civilians were killed in violence on Saturday and around a dozen were treated for having their fingers cut off. -- "The counting process should stop immediately and if that continues, it will have no legitimacy," he told reporters. "From now on, today, we announce that we have no confidence or trust in the election bodies." -- Afghanistan's foreign backers have long worried that complaints of fraud coupled with a close outcome could give the losing candidate ground to refuse to accept defeat, leading to a struggle for power splitting the country along ethnic lines. -- When asked how the process might be salvaged, Abdullah indicated the United Nations might be able to intervene. A spokesman said it was the first they heard of the proposal. -- "We regret this step," said spokesman Ari Gaitanis. "We will work with both campaigns and the (election) commission... we believe due process should continue." -- The Independent Election Commission said its work would continue and Ghani's team said it would remain involved. --- In one group of raw data provided to Reuters by an IEC employee, Ghani is about eight percentage points ahead, roughly equivalent to just over half a million votes. -- While true population figures may be difficult to assess, the figures help provide a loose indication of turnout. -- For instance, over 400,000 votes were cast in Khost according to one data set, not far off its estimated population of 550,000. Even if every adult and child had a voter card and used it, turnout would still have been high. --- In a second set of data provided to Reuters by Abdullah's team, Abdullah is about four percent ahead, contradicting his claims on Monday that Ghani was about a million votes ahead. His figures for Khost also suggest that turnout there was suspiciously high, with nearly 300,000 votes recorded. - More, http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/18/uk-afghanistan-election-idINKBN0ET10N20140618