Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to respond to claims by a UN-backed panel that he did not win recent elections, the US Secretary of State has said.

美国国务卿称，阿富汗总统Hamid Karzai将回应联合国专门问题小组关于他没有赢得最近的选举的声明。

Initial results gave Mr Karzai nearly 55% of the vote

Hillary Clinton was speaking after the watchdog was understood to have confirmed that Mr Karzai had not gained enough valid¹ votes（有效选票） for an outright² win.

Under the poll rules, Mr Karzai should now face his rival in a runoff（决定性竞选）.

UN officials said Mr Karzai had indicated he would respect the country's constitution.

Mrs Clinton told reporters in Washington that Mr Karzai was "going to announce his intentions" on Tuesday, in response to the investigation³ by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

Mrs Clinton did not indicate what Mr Karzai's response might be, but said she was "encouraged at the direction that the situation is moving".

She said she was hopeful the political crisis in Afghanistan could begin to be resolved over the next few days, "in line with the constitutional order".

Run-off likely

In its much-anticipated report on Monday, the ECC said it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud".

The panel ordered that ballots⁴ from 210 polling stations across the country be discounted.

Under the Afghan constitution, the EEC's report passes to the Afghan-led Independent Election Commission (IEC) - appointed by Mr Karzai - which can decide whether to call for a run-off.

The Afghan president has previously⁵ refused a run-off, insisting he won the election outright.

Initial results released last month gave him nearly 55% of votes, and his nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, 28%.

The spokeswoman said the president had promised to do so.

But following the ECC report on Monday, a UN spokeswoman said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had urged Mr Karzai to respect the constitutional process and allow a run-off.

According to respected US-based group Democracy International, Mr Karzai's share of the vote has now fallen to 48.29%, and Mr Abdullah has 31.5%.

EU observers have said as many as one in four votes cast were suspicious.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says the Afghan leader believes an election victory has been stolen from him and had been threatening to block attempts to hold any second round.

But Washington - which has been debating a request for 40,000 more US troops to be sent to Afghanistan - warned at the weekend no more soldiers would be deployed⁶（配置，部署） until a political resolution was reached.

A spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan praised the ECC for working with "integrity（诚实，完整）" to investigate complaints about August's election.

"We have complete faith in the work of the Electoral Complaints Commission," said Aleem Siddique.

He said the UN expected the IEC to implement⁷（落实，实现） the EEC's orders, "so that we can move towards a final certified⁸ result or to a runoff if that's required".

IEC 'stalling'

In the last few days Western leaders and diplomats⁹ have engaged in a rapid round of diplomacy¹⁰ to get Mr Karzai to accept the election results.

The ECC launched its investigation in the wake of the 20 August vote as allegations of mass fraud began to emerge.

The panel reports to the IEC, which will make the final announcement on the election outcome.

The IEC is widely regarded as pro-Karzai, but it is legally bound to（必然，不得不） accept the ECC's findings.

Diplomats have accused the IEC of stalling（失速，停转） to give the president more time to reach a deal with Mr Abdullah, possibly on power-sharing to avoid a run-off.

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the United Nations says the Americans - and their Nato allies - are looking for a second round or a national unity¹¹ government to inject some legitimacy¹² into the Afghan elections.

They say the government must be legitimate¹³ if the US public can be convinced it is worth sending more soldiers to fight in Afghanistan.

With violence at its worst levels across Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted¹⁴ in 2001, there are warnings the ongoing¹⁵ political paralysis¹⁶（瘫痪） will only embolden¹⁷（壮胆，鼓励） the militants¹⁸.