Abdullah says fraud gave his rival a million vote lead in Afghan vote

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah addresses a news conference in Kabul June 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said on Monday his opponent's apparent million-vote lead in the second round of national elections at the weekend was due to massive fraud.

Observers fear allegations of fraud on both sides could lead to a lengthy and paralysing struggle for power along ethnic lines, threatening to derail attempts to transfer power democratically for the first time in Afghanistan's history.