U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry extended an unplanned visit to Afghanistan after talks with Afghan presidential candidates on Friday failed to resolve problems of alleged vote rigging, threatening to destabilize its already-fragile government.

Kerry met separately with presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, followed by a sit-down meeting with President Hamid Karzai on Friday to address the vote-fixing claims to restore public trust in the electoral process and in the establishment of an inclusive and unified government.

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Although representatives from both sides said the Abdullah and Ghani had been optimistic after Friday's meeting, it still left a wide gap between the two candidates.

Abdullah and Ghani accuse each other of committing vote fraud and manipulation after results of the June 14 ballot were released.

Initial results showed Ghani leading with about 56 percent, roughly 1 million more votes than Abdullah's 44 percent, according to the Afghanistan Independent Elections Commission tasked to investigate the allegations of vote rigging.

The results elicited outrage from Abdullah's supporters, including a number of powerful warlords, who urged him to seize power and set up a parallel government.

The Obama administration has expressed concern over the situation that threatens to destabilize the government that the US had literally built from the ground up and sacrificed thousands of troops to defend.

Some Afghan officials agree with the U.S., saying that the electoral crisis may be a more serious threat to the country than the Taliban.

"If Abdullah goes for it and declares himself president... forget it, this is over," said a former top Afghan official.

"Fighting the Taliban won't even be an issue because who is going to do it? The army will be split. So will the police," he added.

Officials believe that a solution is possible but time may be running out.

"The future potential of a transition hangs in the balance, so we have a lot of work to do," Kerry told media.

Meanwhile, Kerry has advised that the final results of the presidential tally be delayed until the audit has been completed.

The U.S. is currently in the process of pulling out its troops from Afghanistan after 12 years of aiding the latter in its fight against the Talibans.

TagsJohn Kerry, Hamid Karzai, presidential elections, Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani, government instability, political instability, vote rigging, vote manipulation