AP Interview: 'Clean and clear' polls a must, says Afghan presidential candidate Rassoul

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan presidential hopeful Zalmai Rassoul says he won't challenge the results of next month's elections even if he suspects fraud and urged his opponents to do the same "for the sake of Afghanistan."

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Rassoul warned that unless the April 5 elections are "clean and clear," Afghanistan's next president will lack legitimacy, and that would undermine the country's nascent democracy and could result in post-election violence.

Opponents worry that Rassoul's close association with President Hamid Karzai could lead the government to intervene to aid him.

He responds that all three presidential front runners have friends in the government. Still, he warned that Afghanistan's stability is at risk if there is a repeat of the massive vote-tampering which tainted the 2009 presidential election.