Vote count ends in Afghan presidential elections

"We are trying to do it as fast as possible, but according to our timetable we will announce preliminary results on September 3 and not before," said IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor.

The EU Commission urged presidential candidates to refrain from premature announcements and to respect the electoral process after the "successful" vote.

And the Group of Eight rich nations appealed for all sides to wait for the official results, urging "patience and restraint" in a statement released by foreign ministers in Rome.

But Karzai's campaign chief said early results gave the incumbent more than 50 percent -- a big enough lead to avert a run-off vote.

"From what we have obtained so far, we can claim that there is no need for a run-off and we can claim that we're in the lead," said Din Mohammad.

Abdullah followed comments by his campaign office that he had 63 percent compared with 31 percent for Karzai, by saying: "I am in the lead, no doubt."

"The country would like to see a change, this is an opportunity for it," he told AFP in an interview.

His defiant comments and his unwillingness to wait for the official announcement were potentially incendiary, said Mariam Abou Zahab, researcher at the Centre for International Studies and Research in Paris.

Election officials said turnout in the poll, a key test of Afghanistan's progress eight years after the Taliban regime was ousted, was expected to be 40-50 percent, way below the 70 percent at the first presidential vote in 2004.