British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday urged opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah to support the democratic process in Afghanistan after he pulled out of the run-off presidential election.

"This decision was clearly carefully considered, and I welcome Dr Abdullah's readiness to play a continued role in the national dialogue," Brown said.

"I am confident that Afghanistan's leaders will support the remaining steps of the democratic process."

This decision was clearly carefully considered, and I welcome Dr Abdullah's readiness to play a continued role in the national dialogue.

Gordon Brown

Brown said he hoped an Afghan government that responds to the will of the people emerges following the decision of President Hamid Karzai's main rival to withdraw from the run-off in the wake of massive fraud in the first round.

The prime minister said: "Along with the whole international community, including our over 40 international partners in Afghanistan, we hope to see an Afghan government emerge that responds to the will of the people, that reaches out to all parts of Afghan society, and that is ready to take strong action to meet the challenges that Afghanistan faces.

"We are ready to work in close partnership with such a government."

Karzai's share of the vote in the first round fell to 49.67 percent after a UN-backed watchdog deemed around a quarter of all votes cast to be fraudulent.

Abdullah won just over 30 percent in the first round and would have had a mountain to climb to overhaul Karzai in the run-off.