Afghanistan: US Ambassador Meets with Candidates Ahead of Kerry

U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham met with both presidential candidates in Kabul on Thursday, a day before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to arrive in the capital to try to help resolve the disputes still troubling the election process.

The campaign teams of Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai have maintained that the United States will only have an advisory and facilitating role in ending the current deadlock.

The top American diplomat is planning to meet with both candidates separately in their residences after arriving in Kabul on Friday.

"Mr. Kerry is coming to Afghanistan to become fully aware of the current condition in Afghanistan and the election's condition; He will only play an advisory role and it will be Afghans who will find a solution," Abdullah campaign staffer Said Fazil Agha Sancharaki said.

Abdullah's team emphasized the importance of President Hamid Karzai in resolving the impasse of the election, which was brought on by Abdullah's decision to pull out of the process because of fraud claims against the election commissions and Presidential Palace.

"We must say that Hamid Karzai is the main reason behind the election crisis and he must be talked to as well about not interfering in the elections," Sancharaki said.

For their part, the Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai campaign emphasized stability and a peaceful resolution. "The U.S. will play an effective role as a supporting country to Afghanistan, and we hope that Mr. Kerry will be able to simplify the current conditions, and gain satisfaction of both candidates," Ghani team member Hamidullah Farooqi said. "We hope that these talks and consultations will prevent violence in the country and will prevent the creation of a parallel government."

In quiet contradiction, however, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's campaign affirmed that President Hamid Karzai would not be part of the talks with Mr. Kerry.

"President Karzai will not be part of these talks, but supports the talks," Farooqi said.

It remains to be seen whether U.S. diplomatic intervention will help end the current election standoff, as well as whether a decision in agreement with both candidates will be made.