KABUL, Oct 11: A breakthrough agreement in Afghanistan's disputed elections was reached on Monday when the main rival to President Hamid Karzai said he would accept the result after an independent inquiry into charges of fraud.

Yunus Qanooni, a former cabinet member who has the support of the powerful Northern Alliance, was the only candidate believed to have a chance of beating Hamid Karzai.

He had joined with 13 others on Saturday to denounce the election as illegitimate and call for a new vote, but after intense negotiations with Western and UN diplomats moderated his stance.

"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," Mr Qanooni said.

Shortly before Mr Qanooni spoke, the joint UN-Afghan electoral management board had announced that the UN would set up a three-person independent panel to investigate the charges of irregularities.

The panel would include a former Canadian diplomat and a Swedish electoral expert, with the third member still to be identified by the European Union, electoral management board vice-chairman Ray Kennedy said at a news conference.

Qanooni said he wanted the report of the independent inquiry to be published before the results of the election were announced. Mr Kennedy announced vote counting had been put on hold in case there was any need to deal with a specific ballot box.

Among other issues in the negotiations is a push by Mr Qanooni for some polling stations to be reopened. He has charged that in areas where he has wide support the stations opened late and closed early.

Mr Qanooni himself boycotted the vote, but if polling stations were reopened he would cast his ballot, he said. Mrf Kennedy said if candidates who boycotted the election on Saturday wanted to cast their votes, their demands would be considered.

All presidential candidates should submit their detailed complaints by Tuesday, he said. Mr 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, and many of them are expected to follow Mr Qanooni's lead, opening the way for the acceptance of the result. However, the opposition candidates include powerful regional and ethnic leaders - some of whom have large private militias - and UN and Western diplomats are working hard to ensure they all accept the result. -AFP