AKIPRESS.COM - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appears set to win a second term, after preliminary election results showed he was on course to win a narrow majority, BBC reports.

He secured 50.64% of the vote in the September 28 election, officials said. The initial results were delayed amid protests and allegations of fraud.

Mr Ghani's main rival, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, won 39.52% of the vote.

But he has rejected the result and is expected to file an appeal before the final result is announced.

"We would like to make it clear once again... that our team will not accept the result of this fraudulent vote unless our legitimate demands are addressed," a statement from Dr Abdullah's team said on Sunday.

Dr Abdullah disputes about 300,000 votes. An announcement of the final result could take weeks.

In the last presidential election five years ago, Mr Ghani and Dr Abdullah became embroiled in a long-running dispute about the results which caused months of political uncertainty.

The UN, which supported the election process, welcomed the preliminary results and urged the election commission to deal "transparently and thoroughly" with any complaints.