KABUL, Oct 11 (AFP) - Yunus Qanooni, the main rival to President Hamid Karzai in disputed elections, said Monday he would accept the result after an independent inquiry into allegations of fraud.
"To respect the will of millions of Afghans and to go along with our national interests I would accept the results of the election after the investigation," Qanooni said.
"We want the report of the independent commission to come out before the results of the election are announced," he said.
Qanooni's announcement was a breakthrough in wrangling after opposition candidates charged that Saturday's first presidential election was fraudulent and illegitimate.
His statement came after the joint UN-Afghan election management body had announced that it had asked the UN to set up an independent panel to probe the charges of election irregularities.
Qanooni, who boycotted the ballot on Saturday, said he would now vote if he had the opportunity.
He said a request had been made for a reopening of some polling stations because some people had not been able to vote because of bad weather.
If this was done, he would vote, he said.
The Afghan-UN Joint Electoral Management Body announced earlier Monday the three-person inquiry panel would include a former Canadian diplomat and a Swedish electoral expert, with the third member still to be identified.
Qanooni was among 14 candidates who on Saturday called for a halt to the election, charging fraud and irregularities after it was discovered that ink meant to stain voters' fingers to prevent multiple ballots was rubbing off.
Most of the candidates stood no chance of winning, apart from Qanooni, who has the support of powerful Northern Alliance figures who held key posts in Karzai's cabinet.